Google Announces New Embedding Feature

A new announcement from Google this week has the literary world abuzz—Google has made the books that it features in Google Book Search available to embed on any website or blog.

The new feature from Google Books will allow web designers to post either a whole book or just a passage of a book, depending on the preferences set by the publisher or author, via the viewer to websites and blogs. Google Books has already posted an open set of APIs for web designers to copy into their websites and blogs. Users have the ability to customize applications and search functions once the book is embedded on the website. The process to embed is simple; in fact, embedding books on websites or blogs is similar to the way videos from YouTube are embedded on sites.

Online book shoppers are happy that they will have the luxury of previewing a book before purchasing it online. “I no longer have to judge a book by its cover while shopping online,” says one online shopper. “I pass up buying many books online because I don’t want to purchase a book only for it to arrive in the mail and not be what I expected.”

The new feature is more than just a marketing tool; it’s also a social networking tool to add to the long list of user-friendly social networking websites. Alex Diaz, Product Manager of Google Book Search, says, “By providing tools that help sites connect readers with books in new and interesting ways, we hope publishers and authors will find even wider audiences for their works.” According to Diaz, the new website will integrate social features including ratings, reviews and readers’ book collections. Google Books’ “My Library” feature allows users to create profiles and select books for their personal online collection. With the embedding feature now available, web designers can allow reviews of books to be viewed on multiple websites and blogs via the embedded page.

The question remains: Will the ability to embed books on websites make a real difference in sales? Case in point: Amazon.com. Amazon has used the embedding feature on its site since late 2003, and also happens to be the number one book retailer in the world. Needless to say, Amazon insiders are saying that execs are not happy about the announcement. Up until this week, Amazon was the only online retailer that gives shoppers the option to read inside the book. With Google offering the same features, Amazon will have some stiff competition in the world of online book buying.