Google eBooks Reaches 2.5M Downloads

With all the talk about Amazon’s plans for tablets and B&N’s new e-book reader, it seems Google eBooks has not gotten a whole lot of attention. Google has not exactly done a good job pushing the app though. Still, the software has been downloaded over 2.5M times since December 2010. This number may not sound that impressive considering that it includes Android, iOS, and Chrome installations. Google may be offering millions of e-books for free to Google eBooks users. At the same time, the company is not doing a good job making its service competitive against the services offered by Amazon and Apple.

Google had this to say about the progress Google eBooks has made:

there are more than three million free Google eBooks available in the U.S. for your enjoyment and enlightenment (as compared to more than two million at launch)… At launch, there were just over 100 independent booksellers selling Google eBooks — now there are more than 250. And while we had just over 5,000 publishers participating when Google eBooks first hit the cloud, we now have more than 7,000 — a 40% increase in half a year… installs of the Google Books apps for iOS, Android and Chrome have exceeded 2.5 million since December.

Google plans to reveal more Google eBooks facts at “BookExpo America and related events.” While I don’t believe Google is done in the ebook business, it does need to be more involved and agile in this industry to make a difference. Its strategy, so far, looks all over the place. Considering the competition Google is going against, it needs to step up its game big time.