Monday, January 30, 2012

Goodreads Decouples From Amazon

Santa Monica-based Goodreads, the online community for book readers headed by Otis Chandler, said today that it has separated itself from its former reliance on Amazon.com's book information, and is now gathering its data from Ingram, the largest wholesaler of books in the U.S. According to Goodreads, it is also working with other open data sources for book information on the site. According to Goodreads, the move came due to restrictive limitations on Amazon.com's book API, such as inability to use the information on mobile apps, and inability to link to competing bookstores. The move is a fairly significant one for Goodreads, which grew initially completely reliant on book information and cover art from Amazon.com, but which has grown its reach well beyond Amazon. Amazon's API was originally designed not for services like Goodreads, but for affiliate marketers who wanted to feature books to drive referral sales on Amazon; Goodreads' reviews and ratings are now featured on such sites as Google and other third party sites. Goodreads is backed by True Ventures, Michael Jones (MySpace, Userplane), along with others.