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Google says they’re a nicer company because they share

Category: Google, Microsoft

The NY Times today looks at Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s anti-Microsoft mindset – one that well predates his tenure at Google (he came up at Sun Microsystems, as anti a Microsoft shop as Apple):

In an interview in November, Mr. Schmidt said he understood the comparison [between the two behemoths] but that it “rankled” him.

“Microsoft was found guilty in a federal court,” he said. The big software maker, he argued, illegally maintained its Windows monopoly by stifling rivals. “Fundamentally, they blocked people from entering their ecosystem.”

“At Google,” Mr. Schmidt added, “we had a long conversation about, if we became a big company, how could we avoid that. There are a lot of technical things we can do and have done. But the one that we decided that was most important was not to trap user data. That is important because” if you can move your data from Google, “you always have a choice to go to a competitor of Google. That is absolutely not true in Microsoft’s history.”

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 3:00 pm, Comments (0), permalink

The Big Picture – Interview with Cliff Guren, Microsoft Live Search Books

Category: Bookselling, Digital Libraries, Digital Publishing, Metadata, Microsoft, The Big Picture

In this issue of The Big Picture:

THE DOWNLOAD: – by industry consultant Laura Dawson
INTERVIEW: – Cliff Guren – Director of Publisher Evangelism, Microsoft Live Search Books
TIA – THIS ISSUE’S ACRONYM – BIC/EDItEUR
INTEL: COMPANIES – MediaBay dissolves, liquidates
INTEL: PRODUCTS – The inevitable Harry Potter hubub
INTEL: PEOPLE – BISG out of office indefinitely
THE JOB EXCHANGE – Visit the new LJNDawson.com on-site job board!

From The Download:
"I was talking to a young man recently who works in IT at a major publishing house. He has just started grad school, and was kind of in shock at what libraries had to offer. “Whatever it is that we can think of for our books,” he said, “they’ve probably already invented it.”

I don’t know that I would quite go that far, but it is true that libraries have done a lot more with search and categorization of content than publishers are aware of. And as publishers enter this age of Google and Live Search, of widgets, of social networking – as publishers look at what technology can do to help potential readers discover their books – they probably could stand to look at what libraries have already done so they don’t re-invent the wheel…"

Click here to access our newsletter archives and read the July 24, 2007 issue in full.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 7:33 am, Comments (0), permalink

Digital Standards

Category: Bookselling, Digital Libraries, Digital Publishing, E-commerce, Google, Industry Events, Libraries, Metadata, Microsoft, Publishing

Yesterday’s meeting of the Digital Standards subcommittee of BISAC was actually less fractious and more consensual than I’d anticipated. (For starters, Google and Microsoft were on the same page regarding formats – neither is particularly interested in proprietary formats, but are looking to differentiate their services with their own search capabilities once files are delivered to them.)

The committee is chaired by Kent Freeman, of Ingram Digital Group, who’s found himself in a Michael Corleone-esque position regarding BISAC: "Every time I try to get out, they keep pulling me back in!" Attendees ranged from Google/Microsoft to publishers (Random, Wiley), to service providers (Quality Solutions, FYI, Bowker, yrs truly) to distributors (Ingram). Peter Brantley of the Digital Library Federation also attended (by phone), as did Nick Bogaty of IDPF.

Essentially, Chris Hart of Random House discussed the issues he’d brought to AAP regarding digital distribution, and with his help the committee was able to divide issues into those around "discoverability" vs those around the actual content itself. Kent decided to keep us focused on discoverability and search at first, and gradually lead in to the sticky issues surrounding content delivery between trading partners.

Google presented its Book Crawl specification, which was really interesting but only in the beta-est of betas right now. All in all a terrific and informative meeting. You can join up here.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 9:35 am, Comments (0), permalink

This just in – Ingram Digital to work with Microsoft

Category: Company News, Digital Publishing, Microsoft

The Book Standard just announced that Ingram Digital will be partnering with Microsoft’s Live Search Books:

Ingram will provide high-volume scanning, content acquisition, metadata management and account management for publishers in Microsoft’s program….Ingram will also offer publishers the option to access print-on-demand capabilities from Lightning Source, and digital distribution capabilities through e-book delivery services MyiLibrary and Vital Source Technologies.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 1:06 pm, Comments (0), permalink

Windows Live Search is…Live

Category: Copyright Law, DRM, Digital Publishing, Google, Industry Events, Microsoft, Publishing

The big news, of course, is that Microsoft’s Windows Live Search is live. Cliff Guren explained all the features today, and it’s very similar to Google Book Search except for this important differentiator – no scanning of books with dubious copyright status. Microsoft scans books that are out-of-copyright, and publishers submit in-copyright books for inclusion (giving their permission for scanning).

There’s no cost to publishers for the service. And there’s no print functionality, or even cut-and-paste functionality, in the search: "As we all know," Guren says, "hacks run amok." So expect a few wiseasses to create end-runs around the protections that Microsoft has installed.

Publishers are able to control how much of a book they want consumers to see – including blocking certain pages from view altogether (in the case of a mystery, for example), or images to which they don’t have the rights.

Guren admitted that the primary reason behind Windows Live is competition with Google for "query share" – which has a heavy influence on ad revenue. Look for a Windows Live demonstration at the Crystal Palace – which sounds like a brothel but is really a section of Javits.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 11:30 pm, Comments (0), permalink

Microsoft and DRM

Category: Copyright Law, DRM, Microsoft

Speaking of DRM, it’s pretty widely reported that Microsoft is talking to record labels about DRM-free music for Zune. At this point, that could be the killer app behind Zune – it’s just not taking off in the same way iPods have (Apple just announced that iPod sales have topped 100 million).

We know never to count Microsoft out, but 100 million is a really big head start for Apple. Do you know anybody who has a Zune?

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 7:41 am, Comments (0), permalink

Microsoft out of IDPF

Category: Copyright Law, DRM, Digital Libraries, Digital Publishing, Libraries, Microsoft, Publishing

Bill McCoy reports this morning in his blog that Microsoft has pulled out of the International Digital Publishing Forum. His feeling is that the open standards of the IPDF run up against Microsoft’s desire for a "Windows-Vista-centric" lock on digital publishing:

Since Microsoft has obviously set out on a path to unilaterally establish a digital publishing platform tied to their monopoly OS platform, why should they support open standards and an inclusive process that involves publishers as more than just passive recipients of the latest Microsoft technologies?

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 10:19 am, Comments (0), permalink

Google vs. Microsoft again

Category: Copyright Law, DRM, Digital Libraries, Digital Publishing, Google, Libraries, Microsoft, Publishing

It’s a day for smackdowns, and Google’s in about six rings at once. This morning, IT World discusses the Microsoft-Google wrangle, where Microsoft is being very careful in its Windows Live Book Search to pursue copyright permissions before digitizing, while Google is digitizing first and asking questions later. Dan Blacharski notes:

Google’s Book Search probably doesn’t violate the spirit of copyright law, but there is a grey area that still has to be defined, and there’s room for argument. There’s absolutely no question as to the legitimacy of Microsoft Live Book Search. Microsoft seeks permission first, then indexes. Google indexes first, then sorts it all out later. From the perspective of fairness to copyright holders, Microsoft leaves nothing open for debate.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 10:11 am, Comments (0), permalink

Google hits back

Category: Company News, Digital Libraries, Digital Publishing, Google, Microsoft

As might be expected, Google did not take Tom Rubin’s remarks lying down. Says David Drummond, chief legal officer at Google (and yes, they need a chief legal officer given all the groundbreaking work they are doing):

"In the publishing industry alone, we work with more than 10,000 partners around the world to make their works discoverable online…."We do this by complying with international copyright laws, and the result has been more exposure and in many cases more revenue for authors, publishers and producers of content."

VNUNet has the story.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 10:01 am, Comments (0), permalink

Windows Live loses search leader

Category: Company News, Digital Libraries, Digital Publishing, Microsoft

The WSJ today announced that Christopher Payne, one of the founders of Windows Live, is leaving Microsoft to start his own company. This comes on the heels of the conflagration caused by Microsoft at the annual AAP meeting, where associate general counsel Tom Rubin gave an address accusing Google of disrespecting copyright law – the implication being, of course, that Windows Live search would be far more careful with its book search than Google Books was being.

Says the Journal:

Historically, Microsoft’s MSN service had relied on Yahoo for its search results. Under Mr. Payne’s team, MSN set off in 2003 to build its own search engine, eventually switching off Yahoo Inc.

Since that time, Microsoft’s online unit has steadily lost market share. In January Microsoft held just 8.9% of the U.S. search market, handling only 2.5% more search queries than a year earlier, according to NetRatings Inc. By comparison Google handled 40.6% more queries over the same period for a 53.7% market share, the research firm said. Microsoft ranks third in market share behind Google and Yahoo.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 9:43 am, Comments (0), permalink
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