Google Books
Your friendly neighbourhood book store. No, really.

* originally written for the ULA's Monday Report, December 2005 *

The Titan Arises

For those of you completely in the dark, Google is the Internet's foremost search engine. Of all the Information Superhighway corporations to emerge hissing, burning and unholy from the fertile ground of the dot.com boom, Google trumps the rest, rising like a titan, feeding off of positive stock speculation and the information era's desperate need for the ultimate librarian. Through the use of its top-secret search-technology, Google has surpassed all other search-engines in the quest for the unthinkable - sorting the Internet.

Like most dot.coms, Google entered the business to make money. It didn't invent the internet search, it wasn't even one of the pioneers, but it now owns it.

This summer Google went public with the astronomical stock price of $135 per share. Its ads program has been an interstellar profit generating success, and with the release of programs like the Google desktop search tool and Google Maps - an awe-inspiring brute force satellite generated documentation of the entire earth ala Dr. No - it was only inevitable that Google, with its penchant for dominating industries via the use of its top-secret categorizing algorithms, has set its sights on one of the other major success stories of the Internet - Amazon and the juicy realm of literature. Yes, the golden boy overachieving company of the new millennium, the apple of Wall Street's eye is double-clicking on books. In fact, they've stamped their name right next to it…and they've put their name first: Google Books.

What is Google Books?

There are two aspects of Google's war plan. The Library Project and the 'Partner' Program (sarcastic quotes, mine). Both these projects, in essence, revolve around Google scanning everything ever printed and making it available for search by the general public.

There's been a lot of stink in the literature realm - particularly amongst the 9 conglomerate enterprises that publish, well, everything - about Google's latest venture to own, well, everything. Tempers flare, particularly, around the fact that Google plans to treat copyrighted books in the same manner it has treated websites - as cherries for the plucking. I.e., collecting them, without the permission of the author, en force and allowing them to be searched while making profits through the process.

Mostly the lit industries are concerned about their bottom line - and they should be because Google isn't doing this for the good of mankind, for literacy or for the children. Certainly, in an age of vast overproduction, a means to sort things, particularly information, is greatly needed. That's all very nice and good, but Google's got stockholders to report to. Relying on its strengths - inserting itself into and then dominating industries started by other companies - Google is aiming its flying wedge at the lucrative (for everyone except authors) field of book publishing.

Most of this controversy, if the report by an independent expert (so Google claims) on the Google 'blog' is to be believed (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/google-print-and-authors-guild.html), surrounds the Library Project - where Google has already begun scanning and incorporating library archives into its museum of everything. Google claims that most of their scans will be of public domain materials but, hey, if some copyright materials get caught in the grinder accidentally, that's just the cost of business. You gotta break some eggs to make an omelet - nevermind that they're someone else's eggs and someone else paid for the frying pan. But the Library project, for all its faults and positives, is the subject of another essay. We'll be focusing here on the Partner Program aspect of Google books and what it means to underground authors.

What is the Partner Program and How does it work?

To quoteth Google: "Think of Google Book Search as a free worldwide sales and marketing system. By matching your words with user searches, Google Book Search connects your books with the users who are most interested in buying them - and then links them to places where they can buy them immediately." This is, of course, how Google Promotion wants you to think of the program - how they think about it in Google Accounting is much different, I can guarantee you. Of course, the description above is, seemingly, a fairly accurate depiction of the services Google intends to offer. (The description above refers to the Partner Program - not the library project - though Google encompasses it all under the Google Book Search term and then claims it's the publishers who are confusing them as the same system.) Under the Partner Program, it is up to publishers and rights-holders to submit their books to Google - either in pdf, or actual book form. Google will then scan the entirety of your book to be put online for searching.

According to Google, the search term will only display the text that the user has searched for, plus a sentence or two before and after. Rights holders have the option of deciding how much 'surfers' can see of the book, from a few paragraphs to a few pages, or the whole book. Google claims that a direct link will then be made from the search result page directly to the publisher's site. Google only accepts books with ISBNs. Third party links aren't allowed (ie, you couldn't have your book link to a bookstore or Amazon - Google's trying to take their place in the chain). Google does not accept "journals, magazines, calendars, or digital files such as PDF files" and, currently, only books in English. "Publishers or entities otherwise associated with the title may not provide incentives of any kind for users to click on the Google advertisements displayed on the content of that title."

The books are hosted on "our secure servers" (which are surreptitiously being placed around the planet to create an 'alternate', Google-owned Internet - http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20051117.html) "and users can only see a limited number of pages from your books. In addition, copy, save and print functions are disabled." You can remove any of your books from Google Book Search at any time although, as we all know, Google "may change our policies at any time, and pursuant to our Terms and Conditions it is your responsibility to keep up-to-date with and adhere to the policies posted here." Hey, that's just the cost of making omelettes!

Why should we care?

So the corporate gods are feuding again, why should we care? Despite the fact that Mount Olympus has seemingly little concern for welfare on the crust of this slippery planet - in fact, exists only because we BELIEVE in them - when the Gods are feuding, opportunities are made. In this case, the favours are being curried from authors. Authors, who spend their lives hoping someone else will want to listen to them (and, in fact, spending most of it being ignored) couldn't be more delighted. The difference is that, this time, unlike anyone else, Google is including the underground. Google Books presents never-before offered opportunities to unpopular, underground, independent and self-published authors.

Clearly, the ability to promote our work on par with the privileged publishers (at least for a little while) is strong with Google books. Additionally, Google books promises to greatly affect the traditional route of people finding books, taking power from the bookstores and giving it to…Google. There is little doubt that Google Books will put chinks in the chain of the Master Publisher and Indentured Servant Publisher model of book publishing. How long those chinks will remain once Google achieves its goal remains to be seen. As everyone knows, the Gods will be vengeful sooner or later, so the question comes down to 'Do we support the Gods at all? And, if so, which side should we bet on?'

In the interest of brevity, point form is the best way to lay out the numerous advantages and disadvantages the appearance of Google Books presents:

Is Google Books good for the underground?

1. The big conglomerates are scared of it. Google isn't our friend, really, but they are the enemy of our enemy. In our quest to bring attention and power away from corporate literature, helping them feast off each other is to our advantage.
2. Google Books is currently an open playing field and since Google is interested in EVERYTHING, it's a surprisingly even playing field - particularly now, while the ground is new and fertile. Established authors and publishers don't want competition from thousands of underground books. They pay good money to ensure theirs are the only books in the store.
3. Unlike other 'boosters' of literature, like Amazon, Google isn't offering to take a cut of profits to help sell your book. In fact, it's even cutting out OTHER bookseller middlemen to send the buyers directly to publishers/authors.
4. Currently, finding books through Google is a lot more democratic than in any chain bookstore or even through Amazon. Money can't buy positioning (as far as I know) and the ground isn't established enough yet for Google to consider Random House a better source of information (and thus elevate its search ranking) than, say, ULA Press.
5. Google accepts self-published books. Google accepts Print-on-Demand books.
6. Google is powerful and open to new ideas (like the ULA) whereas other publishers, clearly, are not. In fact, they're suing Google over the issue. Supporting Google Books supports change in the industry.
7. For big new media empires, Google, so far, has proven to be a fairly responsible corporate citizen. Its ads (for ads) are unobtrusive. It provides a myriad of useful searching resources at high speeds for no cost. It lets you see your house from space. With Google Books, Google is clearly striving for an open, organic search system that brings importance to public domain, out-of-print and underground books.
8. Resistance is futile: Google books is most likely to succeed. By not jumping on authors are probably only hurting the success of their own projects. Unfortunately, Google is already at the point where us being able to curb, control, affect or direct its Herculean rise and impending Zues-like domination is less than possible. Yet, considering that the alternative to Google controlling the book recommendation industry is about as bad - actually, worse at the moment - it seems smarter to take the corporation that's helping over the one that's ignoring.

Is Google Books bad for the underground?

1. Google is not our friend. It is hoping to insert itself and make money off creative content producers without paying for it. Make no mistake, like anyone else, they want a piece of the pie. What they can't do in content (like a bookstore or Amazon can) they make up for in pure bulk. They aren't interested in democracy, particularly at $135 a share.
2. Supporting Google is supporting a corporate, profit-generated entity working within a system that has never supported artists as key parts of the profit stream. Google may be, so far, fairly free from sleazy activities, but that doesn't change the fact that the only thing we can really do about it is 'hope' that they remain a good corporate citizen.
3. Google is a company that has clearly established its attitudes towards copyright. Most of us may see 'copyright' as a joke, since only the rich can pay to protect it and violations seem to only apply to little guys, yet Google has established itself as an organization that does not feel the need to pay or consult with content-creators to use their work for its own profit. Google routinely stores entire webpages in its servers without permission. It's up to website managers to ban Google's engines from their sites. Sure, it's providing a useful service, but what's hidden behind that is the big precedent of handing over control of our work to a giant who only has its own interests in mind. Google is asserting its ownership over not only your work, but your ability to control how it is sold.
4. Google has, for the most part, destroyed the 'link.' The vast majority of web 'surfing' (a term Google has also put to rest) has been taken over by Google. Sure, it provides a great service - but one conglomerate 'owning' such an important aspect of the web undermines the foundation of the Internet. Google books, to a certain degree, will also undermine general cultural democratic principals, consolidating control of 'what is important' in its own hands.
5. Google only accepts books with ISBNs. Zinesters, and anyone else who doesn't regularly put ISBNs on their work, are out of luck. Google's activities with the search engine have narrowed and mainstreamed our Internet searches. Google still works and profits within a system that promotes cultural hierarchy and it's only a matter of time before 'book searches' favour the status quo.
6. Google won't stay a good corporate citizen forever. Diversity is what the underground needs and is fighting for. Google is NOT diversity anymore than one publisher publishing a thousand different books is diverse. Google Books is in its infancy and needs support to thrive. Supporting Google means supporting, to a large degree, the same system where a few guys make scathes of money with artists - the very creators of the content - at the bottom, hoping that the guys up top will continue to be benevolent in doling out measly paychecks to a lucky, privileged few.

Conclusion

It's kind of like asking, between a rock and hard place, which side is softer? At the moment, it's the Google side offering up the golden apple. In all likelihood, Google won't make prospects for the underground any worse. The underground is used to being ignored and whoever the master-du-jour is makes little difference. Google Books is offering diversity at this moment. It is unlikely to make, overall, a large long-term difference to our efforts.

Yet, the chance that Google will be an even worse caretaker of literature is still a possibility. Google is stamped from the mould of Microsoft. With Google finding its strength in covering EVERYTHING, even the little guys matter. It wants in on not only the big books that everyone buys, but all the little transactions that slip under the radar - that are too measly for the corporate booksellers and publishers to bother with, but are important to Google's numbers game. Google's business model is in bulk. They can't defeat the conglomo-9 on selling best sellers that generate $1 a book, but if they can tie themselves into the profit stream of EVERY book and earn half a cent for each sale (via advertising, and other backdoor profit initiatives) they stand to make what economists often refer to as a 'fuckload'. It's probably unlikely that Google could hurt zine review mags, distros, etc… but not impossible.

Currently, Google's got its hand out. Who that hand is really helping is unclear. Yet, with the only alternative being the closed fist of the conglomo-9, (and the inevitable rise of Google) it'd probably be foolish to turn away from it. But undergrounders need to be aware of what's going on. This isn't a new dawn. It's the same dawn of the same day. The publisher lawsuit may seem short-sighted for its attack on 'opening up the market' and changing the system - which is what Google would love us to believe - and is true to a certain extent. The conglomo-9 are only interested in keeping their castle from Google. But make no mistake, Google wants the castle for themselves. Conspicuously absent from this argument are the authors themselves who, as always, are at the bottom just trying to pick over the scraps thrown to them by the conglomerates when they have a fight…really, really hoping someone will listen to them. It's a choice between two evils, really.

People want access to all sort of books, but support massive chains and corporate publishers because they swamp out alternatives through saturation marketing and cheap pricing. Google is not changing this model. Considering the track record of other corporate organizations - in fact, the whole corporate model - I think we have about as much hope of Google helping out the underground as hope for Politicians putting forward progressive changes on their own.

The solution still remains woefully unanswered: a REAL alternative. An alternative to Google and the publishers - a government funded search system or an underground foundation of links similar to what Google's doing, but run by the people who actually care about it. We're working on that, but until we succeed, it's business as usual. Same shit, different Titan.


Resources & References:

The main page for Google Books: http://print.google.com/intl/en/googlebooks/publisher.html

To read google's perspective on the library project, check: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/google-print-and-authors-guild.html

Information about Google's Initial Public Offering: http://www.ipogoogle.org/

Google's policies for Google Books: https://print.google.com/publisher/policies