Quran Tops Google’s Book Search List
The Quran, a guide to tropical flowers, a robot-building manual and a text on interest rates have topped an eclectic list of the most popular English titles found using Google's growing book search tool.
The list, announced yesterday and which also includes Noam Chomsky's critique of US foreign policy, is the first time the web search leader has disclosed a weekly snapshot of what users are viewing since it launched a controversial plan to digitally scan all the world's books two years ago.
Timed to coincide with the largest gathering of publishing executives at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Google list reveals an interest in lesser-known backlist titles, a stark contrast to those featured in the closely watched New York Times bestseller lists and Amazon.com's sales rankings.
The compilation could provide fresh regular insights into what the world is reading online, though Google said it has no plans to launch such a service.
"We thought this would be an interesting experiment to try for the Frankfurt Book Fair," a Google spokeswoman said.
Reuters
Timed to coincide with the largest gathering of publishing executives at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Google list reveals an interest in lesser-known backlist titles, a stark contrast to those featured in the closely watched New York Times bestseller lists and Amazon.com's sales rankings.
The compilation could provide fresh regular insights into what the world is reading online, though Google said it has no plans to launch such a service.
"We thought this would be an interesting experiment to try for the Frankfurt Book Fair," a Google spokeswoman said.
Reuters
