For the last few months, Google has been courting publishers, hoping to convince them to turn over book content that could be used in Google’s database, say people close to the discussions. | How that content would be presented is not clear, but it would likely not be provided in excerpted passages to customers, as it is on Amazon. Instead, the material would go into a database that Google spiders would comb, then turning up relevant links. If a user clicks through, they would be sent to a separate page that contains a book abstract and the opportunity to buy the title. Who would actually be responsible for the sale would be a decision presumably left to the publisher. —Steven Zeitchik —Google Studies Creation of Book Database (Publishers Weekly)

If Google is following Amazon.com’s lead, it’s a sign of Amazon’s strength, and a sign of yet another New Media assault on the fortress of Old Media.

P.S. A breaking new story by Steven Zeitchick? Really? (“Zeit” = German for “time,” as in “Zeitgeist“.)