Rare Book Monthly

Articles - December - 2006 Issue

Google/Froogle: Is This Any Place To Sell Books?

Froogle finds one copy of "History of Bill Yopp" for sale.

Froogle finds one copy of "History of Bill Yopp" for sale.


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.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800

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