Google Play may become a bigger part of the e-book marketshare this year. Some people estimate it’s currently 5% or lower of the U.S. market, but Play is expanding globally, and adding new features that may make it more popular in the future.
Late last year, Google Play released a new feature that made it easier to zoom in and out on an Android, as well as a “read aloud” feature that could automatically read heavy text out loud, without additional resources.
In May of this year, Google started allowing users to sideload e-books into Google Play, and store up to 1,000 e-books on their account. This only works for DRM-free e-books, but it’s still a great feature, and since Google syncs with so many accounts/products, it makes things easier and seamless.
Then, in early July of this year, Google started accepting EPUB3 files, and they will offer e-textbook rentals starting in August.
And, in mid-July, Google Play expanded into 9 more countries, bringing it to a total of 26 countries.
It will be interesting to see what happens next, and whether or not we will see Google’s e-book marketshare grow.
