Google Play Books Enters the Textbook Market with Both Retail and Leasing Options

At the I/O Developer Conference in July, Google announced that the Play Bookstore would introduce textbooks. Recently, this promise has been fulfilled, and Google also provides an affordable service for renting textbooks at low prices.

Recently, Google updated the iOS and Android Play Bookstore apps as well as the web version of Play, adding textbook content. Google emphasized that the textbook business is currently only available in the United States.

Most textbooks on Google Play are available for purchase, but some offer a rental service where students can rent them for six months at very low prices. Additionally, for some new editions of textbooks, Google will provide free sample books.

The school and student market has always been given importance by Google. Multiple products, including "Google-Apps," have free or discounted educational versions. Reports indicate that Google is currently testing an "Educational Version of Google-Play" and is accepting submissions of school and education-related applications, which will be officially released in the future.

In terms of book retail business (including both physical and digital books), Google still lags behind Amazon, the leader in this field. In fact, its textbook rental service was modeled after Amazon's. As early as last year, Amazon began offering textbook rental services, expanding from digital textbooks to physical ones later. Physical books can be rented for 130 days.