GOOGLE VS AMAZON

Google is to step up its online battle with Amazon next year but opening its own e-book store in the United States before rolling out the new business worldwide, The Sunday Tribune reports, quoting “a source familiar with the company’s plans”.

The company is working with e-book publishers to sell hundreds of thousands of copies and position Google as a major threat to Amazon’s dominance in this segment. The increased competition from Google and, to a lesser extent, Apple, will see Amazon’s share of the digital books market decline to 35% over the next five years from 90% in early 2010.