When Google Book Search was launched, publishers were concerned about possible revenue losses and copyright infringement. After all, Google did scan and index books’ hard copies into searchable online versions. Lawsuits were filed over Google’s library project, where contents of entire library collections were to be likewise digitized and indexed.
However, recent trends in book sales might prove Google’s system to be successful in its aim to make searching for relevant content on hardcopy books easy.
Google has been enlisting publishers to voluntarily submit their books so that Web searchers can more easily find titles related to their interests, but some fear the project could lead to piracy or exploitation of their copyrighted content.
“Google Book Search has helped us turn searchers into consumers,” said Colleen Scollans, the director of online sales for Oxford University Press.
She declined to provide specific figures, but said that sales growth has been “significant”. Scollans estimated that 1 million customers have viewed 12,000 Oxford titles using the Google program.
While Google does not disclose exact figures, some publishers report that as much as one thirds of queries for their material have led to users clicking the “buy this book” button and actually making a purchase.
