Before the end of the year Google plans on opening a new service called Google Editions that will offer in print books for sale in eBook format for a fraction of the publisher’s price. Google Editions will also offer free ebooks that are no longer protected under copyright law. These ebooks will be readable on, smartphones, computers and many makes of e-readers. From a financial standpoint, this is an excellent business venture for Google as they will receive a large return on their investment. Google’s only variable costs will be the minimal expense for maintaining and updating their online library and the small percentage of their ebook sales they will have to pay the respective copyright owners. There are relatively few start up costs for Google as they already own the infrastructure and have the technicians to run the servers for their library. With their minimal investment and large potential gain I can only see Google Editions pushing google stocks even higher.
For more info check out http://sify.com/news/google-to-launch-its-google-editions-e-reader-service-in-us-this-year-news-international-kmfn4cegaai.html