Supposedly, Goodreads is using machine learning to make recommendations. All those clicks give insight into individual reader preferences and potentially create the reader’s own custom-designed literary concierge that can predict your next five-star read. There are 90 million Goodreads users flagging books as to-read and read and doling out several galaxies-worth of stars as they rate and review books. Goodreads ads also push Prime and Kindle Unlimited, promoting that both programs offering access to “free” ebooks based on membership fees. Conveniently, the banner ads on Goodreads often advertise Amazon’s own books. According to Quartz, 9.5% of the ebooks sold in the U.S.

Thanks to Kindle, its imprints are major players in the ebooks market. The company currently has 15 imprints, ranging from Women’s Fiction to Sci-fi to Young Adult. Goodreads benefits Amazon’s publishing side too. Amazon runs its own publishing business and platforms.

Now, most book sites link to Amazon to generate profit, but Goodreads has an advantage with the sheer number of users who are actively seeking their next read on the site. (If you go into Settings, you can add and rank more online buying options, but it’s not an intuitive switch). Screenshot of buying options on Goodreads (beta). Efficient SEO drives most people who search “Book Title + review” to Goodreads. The site holds millions of reviews about millions of books. Goodreads was designed as a “long tail content” site, meaning its value comes from its breadth of content. Add in the digital book tracking via “shelves,” and the site was born. Goodreads was designed to create a platform site for those reviews. He was also inspired by the bookish blogosphere, where readers were commenting on reviews across blogs. According to Goodreads, Otis said he wanted to recreate the experience of walking into a friend’s living room and checking out their bookshelves. Goodreads was launched in 2007 by married partners Otis Chandler and Elizabeth Kaur Chandler.

So what did Amazon get for all that Bezos money? Goodreads Beginnings While the final number was a fraction of that, it was still a significant chunk of change. The Goodreads sale initially kicked up such a frenzy that analysts were estimating the sale at a billion dollars. By signing up you agree to our terms of use Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

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