This is what an online retail book business looks like to Google

When Google’s eBookstore was a mere twinkle in leviathan’s eye, many bloggers and smaller booksellers were curious about the structure of any affiliate programs the company would have. Many believed that in order to compete with Amazon‘s already well-placed program the internet giant would have to offer up a healthy portion of any sales generated by affiliate sales.

Many were hoping for something in the 10-20% range. Instead they got, well, almost the same rate as at Amazon, but with fewer titles than in the Amazon program. Paid Content updated their original story about the new affiliate program with an expansion on it, including this bit of information.

Google E-Books referral fees range from 6-10% of a book’s selling price, depending on the volume of books sold through affiliate referral. The fees are based on purchases made by users directed to Google E-Books, independent of whether the referral goes directly to a book or to the front page of the Google eBookstore.

Amazon, meanwhile, offers 4-8% per sale. And while the Google platform beats it on the low- and high-end, it’s still somewhat limited considering the offerings an Amazon affiliate can link to.

Is 2% enough to get the kind of saturation required to build a online retail business? Hardly. Google’s Affiliate Program, sexily shortened to the acronym GAN, is a big part of how they monetize their corp work. And yet once again they’ve seemingly missed the opportunity to be aggressive with their bookstore.

And then you remember that we’re talking Amazon and Google. To Google the conversation is moot. Amazon might be as aggressive as a pirahana, but Google is the size of a great white shark. And something like an eBookstore looks increasingly like small fry in their massive jaws.