Web search leader Google Inc. has approached a book publisher to gauge interest in a program to allow consumers to rent online copies of new books for a week, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The discussion with the publisher indicates Google may move toward adding a digital book-renting service.
Under the Google plan, the proposed fee would 10% of the book’s list price, and it would not be downloadable or printable, The Journal reported in its online edition. Several other companies have announced plans to allow users to pay for the right to view books on a page-per-view basis.
Bertelsmann AG’s Random House says it intends to sell the content of its books on that basis with the provision that the material would not be downloadable, The Journal reported.
Google Print is exploring new access models to help authors and publishers sell more books online, but we do not have anything to announce, The Journal quoted a Google spokesman as saying.
Amazon.com Inc has said it expects to launch two programs next year, according to The Journal: one will let users buy a page, a section or a chapter of a book to read online for a fee; the other will let people who buy a book to access an online copy for a fee.
Google also is moving ahead with a controversial program called the Google Print Library Project, scanning millions of books held in five university and public libraries to let users search the texts for keyword phrases.
A Google spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.