Comments on: More Google searches done for ‘ebooks’ than for ‘novels’: Triumph of medium over message?

By: Brian Carnell

Brian Carnell — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:33:34 +0000

“Of course, in the real world, pub domain books consume just a fraction of readers’ total time.”

Actually I suspect the mostly widely read book in the Western world is in the public domain (though presumably if the content industries get their way, even *that* will soon be subject to copyright).

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:04:47 +0000

Those excessive google searches for “ebooks” could be me.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:16:42 +0000

Thanks, Prentice, Simon and Paul. Yes, “novels” are merely a subset of “books,” and there’s also the fact you can download an e-book but not a paper title.

Still, “ebooks” get much less exposure in school and in the media; and novels make up perhaps half of books. That’s why it’s interesting that the phrase “ebooks” actually beats out “novels.”

Moreover, e-books are just a speck of the total number of books sold. Makes you wonder how much of the downloading involves public domain books or, gasp, warez.

Of course, in the real world, pub domain books consume just a fraction of readers’ total time.

In any event it’s fascinating how the lay of the “land” in cyberspace differs so much from meat space.

Thanks for helping me explore those differences!

David

By: Paul Biba

Paul Biba — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:59:59 +0000

I agree. This is a pretty useless statistic. I can’t imaging why anyone would search for “novels”. It won’t produce any meaningful results. On the other hand there could be many reason to search for ebooks. This is an example of having too much data and trying to force it into a mold to make a point.

By: Simon Haynes

Simon Haynes — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:30:08 +0000

I suspect many will be searching for ebooks in the hope they can download them or find them to purchase online. With novels, they’re more likely to be searching for authors or specific titles instead.

Whatever the reason, the important point is that people are seeking ebooks, and where there’s a demand there should also be a supply.

By: Prentiss Riddle

Prentiss Riddle — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:25:23 +0000

You’re comparing apples and oranges here. Or rather, you’re assuming that you can measure my desire for apples or oranges by my searches for generic terms like “food.”

Books have much more accessible metadata by which to search than just the genre (“novels”). To compare all searches for novels with all searches for ebooks you’d have to somehow identify and include all author and title searches, as well as all searches for particular models of ebooks like “Kindle.”