News

« Headlines

More trade criticism for Google

13.11.08 Graeme Neill

The European Booksellers Federation has becoming the latest trade body to criticise Google’s provisional deal with US publishers to allow users to browse and buy millions of books online.

The federation accused the agreement of being “like a Trojan horse on which Google advances to take over the worldwide dissemination of knowledge and culture”.

“As such a dominant player in the online world, Google will occupy a unique gateway position that, if abused, will inevitably create a de facto monopoly,” it said in a statement. “A situation where competition is removed from the market place by such a dominant player cannot, ultimately, be good for the consumer and would be highly damaging for cultural diversity in the European Union, if Google was planning to extend its policy in the US to Europe.”

The internet search engine provisionally agreed to pay $125m to settle a five-year-long dispute last month. If the deal is given the go-ahead by a US court, users will be able to search and preview millions of additional titles, including out-of-print books, online via Google’s Book Search programme. Money will be made from advertising, subscriptions and sales and will be split 63:37 between the rights holders and Google.

It follows a statement by the Booksellers Association that accused the provisional deal of being a “bridge too far”. It also claimed the deal, if replicated in the United Kingdom, could lead to a monopoly.

In response to the BA, Google denied the provisional arrangement would lead to a monopoly. “There is already an active online market that publishers, retailers, and aggregators have been developing for many years,” said a spokesperson. “This is a non-exclusive agreement that was structured in a manner to encourage competition.”

In defending the settlement, Google added that its Books Rights Registry—an independent, not-for-profit organisation that would locate and distribute payments to rightsholders—would be able to work with any third-party business wishing to provide online access to titles.

Google Graeme Neill Home

Add comment

By posting on this website you agree to the Bookseller Comments Policy. Comments go direct to live, please be relevant, brief and definitely not abusive. Report any "unsuitable" comments by clicking the links.

Name

Comment

Email

Comments on this article

By Dennis Greig

The 63/37 split sounds a better deal than the 2 for 1 deals frequently seen in bokshops and which such heavy discounting can only favour publishers in terms of numbers shifted rather than income generated. Britain suffers, perhaps, from a few chainstores controlling over 50% of the market as it is. Some European cities don't even have decent bookshops. It may be that some publishers rely on institutional buyers rather than the free market. The book trade needs a virtual universal shop via the internet, Google happens to lead the way probably in tandem with Amazon. The Luddite approach to defending the industry's redundant practices is not helpful to authors or publishers not ring-fenced by cartel practice.

16 Nov 08 09:21

Unsuitable?

See Also