As a website operator, we can see where people who come to the Americana Exchange are searching for us. It is not uncommon to see several of Google's national offshoots, such as Google UK, Google France, Google Germany, maybe even Google Netherlands, Canada, or Italy, outpull its largest rivals. Regular Google, the version used in the U.S., is on another planet from the others. They are what eBay is to auctions, not what Abe or Alibris or even Amazon is to books. They dominate.

Now all of this might seem irrelevant to the bookselling field but for one fact - among the many things people search for on Google is books. If you want to take a quick, unscientific survey, walk down the street and ask strangers you meet whether they have heard of even the largest old/used/rare book sites, Abebooks, Alibris, or Biblio. Most, if they don't say "mind your own business," will respond "huh?" Chances are they have heard of none of the book sites, except maybe Amazon, and that they will associate with new books. Old books are barely a needle in Amazon's haystack of products offered. In other words, the inability of any one or two old books sites to totally dominate the market has led to consumer confusion, or downright ignorance, as to where to look for them. So where do these people look if they want to find out more about old books, or maybe, just maybe, buy one? The answer is GOOGLE!

How many people are searching Google for old books? We have no way of knowing, but from our own experience, it is substantial. You want to be there. In other words, you need to have your books listed somewhere online in order for them to be picked up in Google searches. Some listing sites provide this, though a few seem more focused than others. Some listings from Abebooks show up; same for Alibris. Biblio appears to be focused intently on this (see the separate article this month on Biblio). Listings may also show up from your own site if you have one. The first and most important step to showing up in Google searches is to be sure the search engine can find your listings in automated sweeps. This means your listings must be visible through a series of clicks on links. If someone can find your listings by just clicking on their mouse, chances are Google can too. If it is necessary to type something into a search box, or scroll through some choices to find your listings, it is unlikely Google will find them. Google can't type words into your search box. If Google can't find your listings, then Google searchers won't be able to find them either.

In September, AE launched its Books For Sale listings, so we have had a chance to watch search engine traffic. Books For Sale is not meant to replace Abe or Alibris, but is designed to bring booksellers traffic from those who use the AE site for other purposes, and those who find it through search engines. Therefore, the listings were designed to be easily found by the search engines. Here is what we are finding. About 0.2% of the listings in Books For Sale are accessed each day through Google searches. Roughly half of these are from the U.S., the balance from the rest of the world. The next most effective sites for generating traffic are Yahoo, AOL, and MSN, but they provide only a small fraction of what comes from Google. How does this compare with the number of views a listing gets on a major book listing site? We have no idea, as those sites aren't sharing that information with us.