The French Booksellers Association is worried that the new Google/Hachette pact will lead to further competition says The Bookseller.
The Syndicat de la Librairie Française
noted that Hachette Livre’s US subsidiary has” widened this partnership to the sale of new titles.”
As a result, Google becomes a major competitor to booksellers, a potential supplier of content and services, and the main portal for consumer access to retailers’ internet sites, the SLF said. “This dependence on a competitors raises many questions and calls for particular vigilance on the part of booksellers.”
The publishing and book selling economy in France is bizarre, anti competitive, anti consumer and structured for the benefit of vested interests.