Google is set to offer online textbook rentals for college students this August, just in time for the fall semester. The move to offer textbooks to cash-strapped students through the Play store will pit Google against Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple, all of whom already offer rental services.
The search engine conglomerate has struggled with gaining a foothold in a market dominated by competition. Google plans to work closely with a handful of the biggest textbook publisher’s: Wiley, Cengage, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Macmillan. The service aims to offer textbook purchases and rentals to students for up to six months. Prices are reported to be “up to 80% off” retail prices.
This comes as good news to college students whom routinely spend hundreds of dollars a term on textbooks.
This would have been awesome when I was in college. More money for beer….I mean, bananas.