Google Checks Out Interest In Online Book ‘Rental’ Plan

WSJ.com – Google Checks Out Interest In Online Book ‘Rental’ Plan: “According to this publisher, the books wouldn’t be downloadable or printable. Those features may be worked out at a later time, he said. Although this publisher said that the proposed fee to end users — 10% of each book’s list price — is too low, he said it still may represent a significant opportunity for publishers to tap the budding digital-book market.

While the exact shape of any rental approach by Google doesn’t appear to be final, the current discussion with the publisher is a strong indication the Internet-search company plans to head in the digital book-renting direction. ‘Google Print is exploring new access models to help authors and publishers sell more books online, but we don’t have anything to announce,’ a Google spokesman said.”