On Thursday, Google announced an affiliate program for its Google eBooks program, offering webmasters money in exchange for targeted links to specific ebooks.
Google will pay an undisclosed amount of money for webmasters to refer readers to Google's ebookstore, a subset of Google Books, where users can buy e-books for their Android phone or tablet, iPad, or other digital device.
Users will need to sign up for both a Google AdSense account as well as create a Google Affiliate Network account. Publishers will be paid on a sales performance/cost-per-action (CPA) basis, typically as a revenue share or fixed bounty for a lead, subscription, purchase, or other action performed through an advertiser's link on the site, according to Google.
"We haven't publicly disclosed the affiliate referral fees for Google eBooks affiliates," a Google representative said in an email. "After signing up for GAN, affiliates can see the standard referral fee structure before applying for the Google eBooks program. The referral fee depends on the affiliate agreement and the value of the ebook."
Google began selling ebooks in February, after launching its Android Market Web store earlier that month. According to Google, Google's ebookstore has over 3 million ebooks for sale.
Google launched the affiliate program with a single merchant in December, Goodreads, which now can refer its membership to the Google ebookstore.
"Starting today, we invite all interested site owners to apply to join the expanded Google eBooks affiliate program. Participating sites gain new revenue streams by giving their book-reading audiences an easy way to buy Google eBooks," Pratip Banerji, a product manager for the Google Books team, wrote in a blog post.
Publishers and webmasters have several ways to link to the Google ebookstore, including just a link to the Google eBooks home page. Publishers also can link to a specific book, or use APIs or Google's affiliate network product feed or the ISBN number of a book to link to a specific title.
Although falling under the umbrella of Google Books, Google's ebookstore is an issue that's separate from Google's ongoing struggle with publishers over the digitization of the world's books. That agreement between Google and publishers remains in limbo, after Judge Denny Chin's March ruling essentially called for both sides to return to the table to negotiate another settlement agreement.
Amazon, the Web's largest retailer, also has several affiliate programs in place. The program, which includes links, banners, and other forms of advertising, allows retailers to make up to 15 percent of the cost of the item, at least during the holidays.
Barnes & Noble also has its own affiliate program, offering up to 6 percent commission on ebooks, as well as DVDs, video games, and the other merchandise B&N sells. In February, B&N launched a campaign to lure Amazon affiliates after Amazon threatened to pull its affiliate program in states that sought to charge sales tax on items purchased via the Internet.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 12:25 PM PT with comments from a Google representative.
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