But not everyone was impressed. The Washington Post noted that some promised features didn't make the launch. "The company held up support for copy-and-paste and printing, for example, after too many publishers balked. Highlighting and annotation features won't happen until later. The same goes for text-to-speech capabilities that would allow Google's reader programs to read a book aloud." After trialling the service, it added, "I can only think this store could use another run through the typewriter."
Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, told USA Today that despite Google's muscle, it would have a hard time convincing consumers that Google is now the place to buy books. "Amazon started with books and is known for books," he said. "Apple is known for music and entertainment, and Google for search. Just because Google enters a market doesn't make it a winner."
The New Yorker blog, wrote "Mostly Good, a Little Bad". And opined: "Unlike Buzz but like most other Google products the eBookstore makes intuitive sense. When I want to look for a book, I already use Google Books; I have an iPhone on which I have the Google app; I shall now add the Google eBooks app, and life will continue apace." But added that the "faulty cataloging system that Google has used for Google Books since the beginning is exacerbated here".
Publishers Marketplace reports that for publishers already selling on the agency model indicate they receive the same 70% of their consumer price as they get from all other retail partners. Google takes 10% and Google's retail partners receive 20% (assuming one if involved in the sale). Under wholesale terms Google takes 10% of the RRP, while the publisher and retailer split the sale price 63%/37%.
As to the delay and rebranding, Tom Turvey, director of strategic partnerships for Google, told Publishers Weekly that the open nature of the platform meant it was "much more complicated than just building and launching a single closed system". The name change was always the plan, and that Google Editions was just a placeholder as the company sketched out the contours of the program with its partners. With the term "e-book" making significant strides in recent years with consumers, re-branding the program Google eBooks was a natural choice, Turvey said.
As for international launches, the trade papers in Australia and Canada are reporting the same information as The Bookseller has previously reported, that the roll-out will come "soon", with Google in discussions with various local publishers as well as independent booksellers.
And other columns:
Booksellers Blog (booksellers should read this one particularly)
The New York Times.
The Guardian
The Telegraph
The Independent
Publishers Weekly
Wireless & Mobile News
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