If you haven’t heard about Google Book Search, then you’d probably been out of circulation for a while, as this new Google tool on the block has been met with criticisms from copyright advocates and authors alike.

The issues with Google Book Search mostly stemmed from copyright problems, since Google had been full-text-indexing books. This would have been all right, had Google started only with books already in public domain (i.e., copyright has expired or simply released into public domain without copyright). This could include old classics and newer publications that author chose to waive copyrights for. However, Google decided to archive copyrighted material also, and thus the worry that the content might simply get out into the open, for free, unprotected, and therefore robbing the authors and publishers their chance at a fair profit from their works.

However, criticisms have dampened down, and Google Book Search might just be the great marketing tool that book authors and publishers are looking for. After all, you get to match Google’s powerful search capabilities and a good database of content (the books), and you’ve got one helluva searchable library or bookstore of sorts.

The beauty of it, from publishers’ and authors’ perspectives, is that Google actually tries to entice readers into checking out books, with excerpts gleaned from the context of a user’s search. And what’s even better is the presence of a “buy now” link, which directs users to e-commerce portals where they can buy a copy of the book. It’s a win-win situation!

We will give tips on conducting book searches next time. Meanwhile, you can try checking out Google Book Search’s official blog.