New Delhi: Online or offline, free is the most loved word for all shoppers and when the word spread that as many as 40 contemporary books including works of Indian literary luminaries such as Khushwant Singh were available for free download on Google Play, thousands scurried to download their copies.
The books, about 40 of them, were unlike the other content that is available for free download on Google Play Books and this perhaps accounted for the wide interest around them. All the books, covering a wide range of genres, were from the same publisher - HarperCollins India.
This was first reported on the blog Cutting the Chai and as the news spread via Twitter, many other websites also subsequently posted about the free ebook bonanza. "Not sure if this is by desire, deceit or just a benevolent bug, but whatever it is download your copy now, lest amendments are made," the post on Cutting the Chai said expressing apprehension that the freebie could be inadvertent.
Now as things have turned out, it appears that it was because of an error on part of Google in making the books, that were being sold at regular prices at other ebook sellers, for free. Currently the books are no longer available for download on Google Play Books even at a price. Google seems to have also removed all mentions of the from its search index on Google Play.
It is possible that the publishers HarperCollins India and Google were alerted about the potential revenue leak and they have now plugged the leak but in the process have also made the books inaccessible for many users. The early birds who had rushed to download the books for free on Google Play are still able to access them on their devices and will continue to do so because Google's policies state that "in certain cases, we may be forced to remove customer access to content stored online. However, any downloads that you have obtained will continue to work, even if we're no longer able to provide online access to an eBook."
Unlike apps on Google Play there are no download stats available for ebooks, therefore it is difficult to correctly gauge an approximate figure of dowloads happening because of the inadvertent freebie and what losses Google and/or the publishers had to incur as a result. Cutting the Chai confirms that there have been thousands of clicks from its pages to the books on Google Play.
We have contacted Google for a response and a reply is awaited.
List of ebooks that were temporarily available for free download on Google Play Books
- Amul's India
- Arzee The Dwarf, Chandrahas Choudhary
- Best Indian Short Stories - Vol. I, Khushwant Singh
- Best Indian Short Stories - Vol. II, Khushwant Singh
- Black Ice, Mahmudul Haque
- Bobby: The Complete Story, KA Abbas
- Calcutta Exile, Bunny Suraiya
- Chinese Whiskers, Pallavi Aiyar
- Controversially Yours, Shoaib Akhtar
- Deewar, Vinay Lal
- Delhi Noir, Hirsh Sawhney
- Gods and Godmen of India, Khushwant Singh
- Headley And I, S Hussain Zaidi
- I, Steve - Steve Jobs In His Own Words, Steve Jobs
- India - A Traveller's Literary Companion, Chandrahas Choudhury
- India An Introduction, Khushwant Singh
- Jaane Bhee Do Yaaro, Jai Arjun Singh
- Keep The Change, Nirupama Subramaniam
- May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss, Arnab Ray
- Mediocre But Arrogant, Abhijit Bhaduri
- More Salt Than Pepper: Dropping Anchor with Karan Thapar, Karan Thapar
- Mother Maiden Mistress, Bhawana Sommya
- Olympics - The India Story, Boria Majumdar
- Potato Chips, Anushman Mohan
- Ravan And Eddie, Kiran Nagarkar
- RD Burman: The Man, The Music, Balaji Vittal
- Sex, Scotch & Scholarship, Khushwant Singh
- Tanzeem, Mukul Deva
- The Best Advice I Ever Got, The Business Today Team
- The Double Life of Ramalinga Raju: The Story of India's Biggest Corporate Fraud, Kingshuk Nag
- The Householder, Amitabh Bagchi
- The Impatient Optimist - Bill Gates In His Words, Bill Gates
- The Intolerant Indian - Why We Must Rediscover A Liberal Space, Gautam Adhikari
- The Maruti Story, R C Bhargava
- The Moslems Are Coming, Azad Essa
- The Other Indians: A Political And Cultural History of South Asians In America, Vinay Lal
- The Sacred Grove, Daman Singh
- The Sikhs, Khushwant Singh
- The Sufi Courtyard: Dargahs Of Delhi, Sadia Dehlvi
- Women And Men In My Life, Khushwant Singh
(Disclaimer: The blog Cutting the Chai is owned by Soumyadip Choudhury who also works for IBNLive)
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