Online Advertising In eBooks

It won’t be long perhaps before we see Google advertising in ebooks.

As an article in The Atlantic says, the Internet’s original sin is still with us, and unless hell freezes over and people stop believing that the Internet is only for free stuff, expect the basics of Internet survival to start invading ebooks very soon.

It will only take Google and Amazon to invite each other to dance and we will have advertising in ebooks.

I can almost hear people wincing at this prospect, however, when one thinks for a little longer, this concept actually makes very good sense for self-published authors.

Look, let’s face it, selling self-published ebooks is hard work and for the vast proportion of authors, it’s not a great money-making means.

At a sale price of $2.99 to $3.99, a self-published author makes between $1.80 and $2.40 at most when they sell an ebook. If and when they do.

Google advertising in ebooks could be good for authors

However, as a fellow self-published author, I know full well that I make between $0.80 to $1.25 every time someone simply clicks on a Google Adsense ad on one of my blogs.

It hardly makes sense that one little click on an ad on a blog is worth nearly as much as selling an ebook of 80,000 words.

Realistically, though, isn’t an ebook really just an HTML web page, packaged up for consumption in an app other than, but very similar to a web browser?

Is an ebook in reality only one very long 80,000-word web page or blog post? In essence yes, because it is exactly the same file as a web page or blog post – all HTML, code and CSS telling the screen what to show.

I for one say bring it on.

Forget all the tough ebook marketing grunt hours and give ebooks away for free and start making more income from Google Adsense ads at the bottom of every page rather than from actually selling ebooks.

The only problem with this scenario, of course, is our dear friend Amazon and its cut on ebook sales.

But if Google shares some of the spoils, I am sure they will find a way to tango.

And then, all of those who still believe that the Internet should only be for free stuff will be happy too.

So long as they obey the original sin, and click on the ads.

More reading: Google Adsense Can Help You Make A Little More Money