Google Set to Join Ebook Fight

Google has revealed its plans to launch Google Editions, an online store to sell e-books. The company says the store will launch in the first half of 2010 with about half a million e-books.

The startup e-book store will launch with an inventory of books Google already owns the rights to, making its stock rather limited. But Google will still be able to compete with Amazon's Kindle because the Google Ebooks will be readable on any device with a Web browser. In addition to Google Editions, the Google-hosted e-books will also be available for sale on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, Reuters reports. Google has also announced how they will share e-book revenue with publishers and, if the e-book is bought somewhere other than Google’s store, with the retailer that sells it. When Google sells the e-book directly, publishers will get 63 percent of revenue and Google will keep the rest. When a third-party retailer sells the e-book, the publisher will get 45 percent, and the retailer will get “most of the remaining 55 percent,” Google said. Google enters the market while residual anger over Amazon's decision to delete some purchased books from Kindle users still smolders.