Google eBooks Launches in Australia Amidst Book Chain Bankruptcies

The trio is now complete. Google eBooks, after launching in the UK and Canada, has now also started in Australia, making it available in the major English-speaking markets. Google has chosen the timing well, as this year, Borders, Redgroup, and Angus & Robertson—three large book chains—have filed for bankruptcy, leaving a vacuum in the Australian book market that Google could potentially fill.

Just a reminder: Google eBooks should not be confused with Google Books. Google Books is focused on digitizing books to enable full-text searches, while Google eBooks is designed for the sale of eBooks. However, both services are interconnected in various ways, so that in the future, the transition from text search to purchase is likely to be seamless. Books purchased through Google eBooks are stored on Google’s servers and can be read online. There is also an option to cache the books for offline reading.

01.11.2011: Google eBooks launches in Canada

Of course, the question remains: when will Europe be tapped into? There is already a link to Google Books on the Sony PRS-T1—perhaps Sony knows something more here.

At the beginning of October, Google expanded eBook sales to the UK, making the United Kingdom the first country outside the US where Google has launched the service. Canada and Australia were also being discussed in September. Now one of those two countries follows: Canada.

The North American country is now number three on the list of Google eBook vendors.

Alongside the eBook store launch, Google also announced partnerships with the following publishers: McNally Robinson, Penguin, Random House, Harper Collins, House of Anansi, Dundurn, and McGill-Queen’s University Press. Like in the US and the UK, independent booksellers in Canada will have the opportunity to offer their books through Google’s service. According to the newspaper “The Financial Post,” Google has already collaborated with the appropriate retailers to launch this service.

Just a reminder: Google eBooks should not be confused with Google Books. Google Books focuses on the digitalization of books to facilitate full-text search, whereas Google eBooks is designed for selling eBooks. However, the two services are interconnected in various areas, so transitions from searching text to purchasing may soon become seamless. Books bought through Google eBooks are stored on Google’s servers and can be read online. There is also an option to cache the books for offline reading.

Now, after Canada, only Australia (and New Zealand) remain, which would cover the key English-speaking markets. Possibly next in line could be the French market, where Google has managed to negotiate some deals with various publishers in recent weeks.