Over on TechCrunch, anti-trust lawyer and Open Book Alliance leader Gary Reback has a guest column about why the technology sector should be concerned by the proposed Google Books settlement. While much of it is the same things opponents have been saying for a fairly long time about the unfair advantage this gives Google, some more interesting notes come later in the article.
Reback explains why book search was so appealing to Google: it has to do with satisfying searches in the “long tail” of search subjects that are not the “popular” subjects that make up the majority of Google search queries. Apparently studies have shown these “tail” searches can influence consumers’ decision as to which search engine to use for all their searching.
Google believes that books contain the answers for many of those “tail” searches—and if they can lock in access to the book search database and lock competitors out, they can gain a significant competitive advantage. This, Reback says, is exactly what the terms of the proposed settlement will allow them to do.
The latest hearing on Google Books will take place today. Needless to say, plenty of people will be watching.
