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but Google eBookstore suddenly gives booksellers a reason to at least wade into SEO.

But what about new books and ebooks? How does Google determine which new titles, and the more than 15 million books that have been scanned, float to the top of its search results pages: in the web search box and in the ebookstore. The challenge, for Gray and other Google engineers on the Books project, is that the best known component of Google's algorithm for determining the the value of a web resource -- the number of links to it by others -- does not apply to books and ebooks. Although it is possible to link to a selection in certain books on Google Books (here's a hyperlink into the aforementioned Galbraith title) people don't generally create links to the contents of a book or ebook. So linking is not a reliable indicator of quality.

One strategy that Google employs is to tap into the book industry's "rich tradition of metadata.

Trade eBook sales were $40,800,000 for July, a 250% increase over the previous July’s $16,300,000. The previous high was $31,900,000

Though the world of print is receding before a tide of digital books, blogs and other Web sites, a generation of college students weaned on technology appears to be holding fast to traditional textbooks.

According to the National Association of College Stores, digital books make up just under 3 percent of textbook sales, although the association expects that share to grow to 10 percent to 15 percent by 2012 as more titles are made available as e-books.

three-quarters of the students surveyed said they still preferred a bound book to a digital version.