We are committed to providing fast, efficient, and affordable software solutions that set new standards in the software development industry.
  • Amazon's Goodreads Purchase: What This Means to You
Technology Articles > Software > Education > Amazon's Goodreads Purchase: What This Means to You

The Goodreads site was started seven years ago. The site features book recommendations, a book social network of sorts, and ways to learn about books that your friends like. Goodreads is easy to use and is also a great marketing tool, as Amazon has just discovered.

The content company has just purchased Goodreads for an undisclosed amount. What Amazon is hoping to learn from Goodreads is all about reader habits. What will change for Goodreads users? Not a whole lot right now, but some slight changes may happen in the future.

Amazon's Reason for a Goodreads Purchase

If you've used the Goodreads site before, you know that the site lists all kinds of books. Further, the site lists book ratings. It's easy to tell which books are very popular and which ones readers hate. It's also easy to tell which books a certain demographic can't get enough of. Well, these details are priceless to a company like Amazon.

With the marketing knowledge gained from purchasing Goodreads, Amazon will be able to sell more books through the Amazon site. Likely, Amazon will also be creating advertisements in Goodreads that leads directly to Amazon's main page. Targeted advertisements are gold, after all.

Goodreads Has No Shortage of Readers!

Currently, the Goodreads site has around 16 million readers. Many of these readers are looking for some kind of e-reader experience too. What better company to offer e-reading options to millions of readers than Amazon? There's definitely room for Amazon at the Goodreads table, and the company is certain going to take advantage of this opportunity.

Does this mean that the Goodreads you know and love is gone? Not quite. The Goodreads company will remain in San Francisco, the team will stay where it is, and the website will run just as smoothly as it always has. The main difference is that you will see more Amazon-centered stuff when looking at Goodreads. But, nothing is going to drastically change. In fact, the recent acquisition might actually be a good thing for readers.

What the Site Looks Like Now

At the time of this writing, the Goodreads site has remained unchanged. Amazon hasn't made its intentions clear quite yet, but the company is bound to start making minor changes soon enough. More likely than not, those changes will benefit readers, though there is a slight fear that Amazon might also influence the types of books readers now choose.

If you use Goodreads, you can continue to use the site without fear of any drastic changes. The one drawback to this recent purchase is that readers will be linked to one e-book seller, Amazon, instead of the many that currently line the Goodreads site pages.

Another possible drawback might be switching from small bookseller links to the massive content provider that is Amazon, but this might mean deeper discounts too. What Amazon will do with the site is unclear just yet, but I will let you know when things start to change for better or worse!