This Monday, Google announced its plan to launch a program to sell books digitally. This program, which Google aims to have completed by the end of the year, could pose very real competition for Amazon, which up until now has had a near monopoly in the e-book market. So what are the differences between the proposed Google e-book program and the current Amazon e-book system?

Amazon, which currently prices its e-books at an average of $10, sells manuscripts formatted to work with (and only with) its Amazon-manufactured software, Kindle. Amazon consumers buy specific e-books and download the information to save in their Kindle. Google has yet to set any prices for its e-books (the creators are still in conversation with publisher,) however manufactures have already claimed that the new Google e-book system will be fundamentally different from that of Amazon. Instead of downloading the book files, consumers will purchase access to titles and would be able to read them online.

It isn’t clear yet whether consumers will want to purchase books which they cannot actually download, but Google’s online breadth should garner it particular advantages. The question remains however, if Google can pose as a challenger to the e-book sales of Amazon and how this new program will change the relations between writers, publishers and readers.

For more information or to read the article visit Wall Street Journal