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Yahoo Content Alliance Differs From Google Print

The Open Content Alliance, a searchable online database of works from libraries, technology firms and others launched yesterday by Yahoo and partners, varies widely from Google's controversial Google Print search.

The content includes multimedia files, such as video and audio, and likely will contain advertising in the future. Users can search for content on the Open Content Alliance site, http://opencontentalliance.org, or on Yahoo Search.

Though executives from Yahoo and the Open Content Alliance did not compare the service directly with Google Print, they stressed that OCA's content does not violate publishers' copyrights.

“We will be including copyright material if it has gotten the permission from copyright holders,” David Mandelbrot, Yahoo's vice president of search content, told DM News.

Publishers have sued Google over its Print beta search, launched this summer, claiming the service violates copyright laws. The Association of American University Presses, New York, also said it was concerned that Google is scanning copyrighted work from publishers that don't want their books scanned and placed online, particularly works from Harvard, Michigan and Stanford universities.

The Open Content Alliance consists of Yahoo, Adobe Systems, Hewlett Packard Labs, The European Archive, the University of California and other groups and companies.

“We're focused on companies like Hewlett Packard Labs and Adobe, which have the ability to provide technology that can enable this effort, in addition to libraries that have a lot of books and other multimedia works that we would be interested in digitizing,” Mandelbrot said. “In addition, we're working closely with the publisher associations in an effort to bring commercial publications into the Open Content Alliance.”

The alliance differs from other content searches in that “users will have the ability to access an entire work, rather than just sniff at some available works,” he said. Mandelbrot said the “potential” exists to include advertising in the OCA down the road.

“We're at the very early stages,” he said. “The focus is on bringing great content to the site. It's too early to say what advertising on the site would look like.”

Google promotes Google Print as an advertising opportunity for book publishers. Consumers can enter search terms in Google Print, then get a list of book titles, along with page numbers, that match their terms.

“Google Print enables publishers to promote their books on Google. We may also show contextually-targeted Google AdWords ads on these pages,” according to information on the Google Print site. Publishers will receive a share of the revenue generated from ads “appearing on their content,” says the Google Print information.

Of particular note to online booksellers, the search results include a “Buy This Book” link to online bookstores that sell the book, or searchers can find nearby libraries that carry it.

Google said it has partnered with several major libraries to digitize their collections and wants to work with additional publishers.

Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters

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