GOOGLE BOOKS – FRIEND OR FOE? - By Cherilee Olmstead

Google Books history came from an idea by Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to access a large collection of books in digital format, which could then be searched and compared to value a book’s “relevance and usefulness by tracking the number and quality of citations from other books” (Google). Their mission is to “make the world’s information as universally accessible and useful as possible, all the while respecting publishers, copyright and the role of libraries across the globe” (Google). In 2026, the program now allows people to search for, read and download over 10 million free books, through partnerships with Partner Program and the Library Project (Google). While the search rewards users with millions of free books, Google benefits from advertising and as a pioneer they were receiving media attention already. Traction increased with fast and simple ways to buy books whose copyright restrictions did not allow them to be posted for free. Through their partnership, University of Michigan became “the most digital research library in the world” (Marcum et. al. 75) and in turn, Google “used the digitized books in developing and training various artificial intelligence algorithms” (Marcum et al. 76) Google announced Google Scholar shortly after.

While Google’s initial interest in digitalizing books seemingly came from having the same goal as libraries – to make as much information as possible, as accessible as possible, I cannot believe their intentions were altruistic. I believe this practice of making information accessible was really a trojan horse for improving their algorithms and tracking history because now they can access everything users search for, read and for how long. User privacy is a fundamental issue for libraries “Everyone has the right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use, no matter their origin, age, background, or views. When users recognize or fear that their privacy is at risk, they lose the freedom to explore ideas.” (ALA) And yet, Google used establishments of free thinking like the University of Michigan Library – to digitalize their collection with the dangled carrot of offering users more information and freedom to grow intellectually, only to store, categorize and collet data on these very same users. Google’s enterprise is so vast that competition isn’t really competition at all, so even if other more public-focused digital libraries were to compete, with more accurate methods of categorizing and labelling information to better benefit its users – I fear that they would be dead in the water before they even began.

Google is now a worldwide name and has power in a variety of markets, including a leading search engine. It fools its users into thinking it is offering the very best in information. However, just like the Library of Congress declined a coalition with Google (Marcum et. al. 76), through concerns of copyright infringement and quality of scans, amongst other things – it is smart to be skeptical. Algorithms are estimates and assumptions, anticipating what it thinks its users want, versus users searching in a library with the assistance of a library worker who is ensuring the validity and credibility of the material being found. Google leads you to believe that its books are good value for money at free or discounted prices – but it takes much more from you than simply your money.

To further this, Andreas Ekström gave a TEDx talk titled, “The moral bias behind your search results.” which discusses the dangers of relying on a search engine to give you credible information. 

Works Cited

 

 “About Google Books.” Google Books,  www.google.com/googlebooks/about/index.html. Accessed 4 April 2026.

Ekström, Andreas. “The moral bias behind your search results.” YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, January 2015. https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_ekstrom_the_moral_bias_behind_your_search_results

“Google Books History.”  Google Books, www.google.com/googlebooks/about/history.html. Accessed 4 April 2026.

Marcum, Deanna B, and Roger C Schonfeld. Along Came Google: A History of Library Digitization. Princeton University Press, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691208039.

“Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.” ALA,  www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/privacy. Accessed 4 April 2026.