• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 15, 2009

Google revealed additional plans Thursday for next year's launch of its ebook store. Google Editions, an online store that will deliver digital books to any digital device with a Web browser, will initially offer between 400,000 and 600,000 books in the first half of 2010.

Google will make the books searchable, but it's not clear if the company will add features for advertisers or marketers, such as AdWords or AdSense. Publishers will set the price of the books. Google will garner more than half the profits and share them with retail partners. Consumers can download the books and read them offline on eReaders, cell phones, laptops and more. The details emerged during the Frankfurt Book Fair, but back home in the United States, Google spokesperson Jennie Johnson says the focus remains on finding ways for publishers to sell their books, as well as helping consumers find the books they want to read most.

Today, Google offers links to physical bookstores and libraries, but there are people who want to read books from Internet-connected devices, Johnson says.

The service takes aim at Amazon.com's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's rumored eReader and others that might lock down content to one device. Both Sony and Asus have entered the industry, too. Some devices also have wireless connectivity.

Connectual Managing Partner Aaron Goldman believes Google may be underestimating the importance of the device. "While it's nice to offer untethered access to the books, a good user-experience is key," he says. "I doubt I'll ever want to read an entire book on my cell phone. The parallel is iTunes vs. Rhapsody. Sure, I can listen to Rhapsody anywhere but I want music on my iPod."

Goldman hopes Google will respect the environment rather than "cram in a bunch of AdSense around the perimeter." He points to the innovative format Amazon introduced for the Kindle, a full-text transcript of the series premiere for Showtime's Nurse Jackie. Another that might work for Google Editions is in-text ads like those offered by Vibrant Media.

Michael J. Gyulai, whose 2008 memoir "Midnight in Rome" was re-released in August under a new two-year contract after he used Twitter and Facebook to drive a spike in online sales, likens Google's strategy to digital rights management (DRM) and the music industry. When the music publishers tried to adapt and sell digital music they locked files from being burned more than once on a CD or iPod. Consumers hated it.

Google's foray into digital book sales puts Amazon in a tight position, Gyulai says, suggesting that Amazon loses money on ebooks to sell Kindles. "Amazon locks ebooks sold on the Kindle, but what happens when Google comes along and blows that wide open, allowing consumers to buy ebooks from Google Editions to read on the Kindle, laptop or cell phone?" he says. "It could create a similar situation to events that happened around DRM and the music industry."

Gyulai, a Transfer Media Group account representative, supports media companies, from music to TV, that produce "Top Chef" and "Project Runway." He says Google Editions has a ton of advertising possibilities. As someone who dabbles in Web development, he says all it takes is a snippet of code embedded on a Web page to analyze the text and match relevant ads.

While advertising next to the actual page in the manuscript might meet with consumer disapproval, a blue link in the text could become inevitable. In the future, nearly every digital product will likely have ads integrated, Gyulai says. "In the beginning it will be too difficult to add ads in a manuscript, but I could see a Google Editions home page that analyzes the ebooks bought," he says. "When you load up the My Google Editions library, I can see ads on that page from the start."

U.S. ebook sales totaled $113 million in 2008 -- up 68% from 2007 but still a mere pittance of the estimated $24.3 billion spent on all books, according to the Associated Press, citing the Association of American Publishers.

Based on consumer data and reports from vendors and retailers, Forrester recently revised projections published earlier this year. The research firm now expects 3 million units sold this year, up from previous estimate of 2 million units. About 900,000 units should sell during the holiday season, between November and December.

Of course, Google hopes the reader will become obsolete, because in Google's world everyone can access the content from any digital device sporting a Web browser.