Noted online bookstore and retailer Amazon is buying the excellent online books-related social network and information portal Goodreads. Well, that’s a deal that makes a lot of sense.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Goodreads, the online books portal is a place where users can connect with each other and keep track of the books they’re reading as well as what they’d like to read. So, you know, it’s exactly the type of service that Amazon would want to acquire, given that it’s in the business of selling books.
Goodreads is a beloved service, so loads of people will groan to hear that it’s been acquired by a corporate monolith. From the information in the release, it’s impossible to say if Amazon will preserve the service and use it to augment its own operations or whether it will be eventually shuttered. You might speculate the former since, for now, Goodreads will stay in its current San Francisco offices.
The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. We reached out to Amazon for details about company’s plans for Goodreads, and we’ll update with any new information. [Amazon]
Update: Amazon responded to our questions about the terms of the sale and about where Goodreads fits into the strategy:
As a matter of company policy we don’t disclose these details. Our goal is to build on each other’s strengths and create the best service for all readers in any format. We expect we’ll find ways to make both Goodreads and Kindle work better together through integration with the other.
So in case there was any doubt from the original announcement. The Goodreads recommendations and technology is headed mostly to Kindle products.