Google Inc. GOOG -0.40% Google Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $1214.79 -4.82 -0.40% March 7, 2014 5:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1.44M AFTER HOURS $1214.32 -0.47 -0.04% March 7, 2014 8:50 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 72,614 P/E Ratio 33.25 Market Cap $408.23 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $1,110,730 03/09/14 Big Data, for the Environment 03/09/14 Google Searches for an App Rol... 03/09/14 Google To Offer Android for Sm... More quote details and news » launched Google eBooks, its long-anticipated digital bookselling enterprise, on Monday.

The venture, now rolling out across the Web with hundreds of thousands of popular titles for sale and millions more free, will compete for a slice of the digital books business, which is valued at close to $1 billion and is expected to grow in the coming years.

Google eBooks, formerly called Google Editions, represents another opportunity for the Web giant to go toe-to-toe with two of its powerful rivals, Apple Inc. AAPL -0.06% Apple Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq $530.44 -0.31 -0.06% March 7, 2014 5:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 7.72M AFTER HOURS $530.45 +0.01 0.00% March 7, 2014 8:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 197,594 P/E Ratio 13.07 Market Cap $473.45 Billion Dividend Yield 2.30% Rev. per Employee $2,163,820 03/09/14 Google Searches for an App Rol... 03/06/14 Pixelworks Shares Surge On App... 03/06/14 Judge Denies Apple Request to ... More quote details and news » and Amazon.com Inc., AMZN -0.03% Amazon.com Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq $372.06 -0.10 -0.03% March 7, 2014 5:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.25M AFTER HOURS $372.30 +0.24 +0.06% March 7, 2014 8:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 30,882 P/E Ratio 630.61 Market Cap $170.87 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $634,714 03/06/14 At 35, EMC Is Undaunted by Thr... 03/05/14 Dish Expands Remote-Viewing Ap... 03/05/14 Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Puts Mor... More quote details and news » and to open up a new stream of revenue outside of online advertising.

"Publishers want more competition in the marketplace, and we already have a big investment," said Tom Turvey, a director of strategic partnerships at Google. "We're trying to extend the value of content that exists in the world by enabling people to find it and buy it."

Users will be able to buy books through books.google.com/ebooks and read them on many devices, including tablets, computers, smartphones and open format e-readers. Google on Monday released e-book buying and reading apps for Apple's iPhone, iTouch and iPad as well as Android mobile devices.

Customers will be able to store their Google-purchased titles online on their own bookshelf accessible via their Google account. They will be able to start reading e-books on one device or computer and switch midway through the book to other devices without losing their spot, Google engineers said.

Pricing is similar to other major e-books vendors, with new releases from publishers operating under the so-called "agency pricing model," in which publishers set the consumer prices, generally priced under $20. Google eBooks will set its own prices for books sold by publishers under the traditional wholesale model.

The new service is an extension of Google Books, a book-search site linked to the company's main Web search engine. Launched in 2004, it displays full copies or previews of millions of books and points consumers to places where they could be purchased, including Amazon.com. Now Google will sell books directly through an online store and allow others, including independent bookstores, to sell Google eBooks on their own sites and get a share of the revenue. Mr. Turvey said the company will not require other sellers to give Google their customers' financial information or email addresses. "We're not interested in pursuing the customers of booksellers," he said.

Mr. Turvey said that all of the country's major publishers are participating in Google eBooks, which means the Google e-book store will have a full complement of competitively priced best-sellers. It will also contain a wide array of scholarly, scientific and professional titles that may not be available elsewhere, making it "the largest e-book store on the planet," said Scott Dougall, a Google product management director. Google eBooks will become available outside the U.S. starting in the first quarter of 2011.

Among the major publishers that have signed up is Bertelsmann AG's Random House Inc., which is selling its books to Google at a wholesale price and allowing Google to set the consumer price. Random House is the only major publisher that has declined to adopt the so-called "agency pricing model," under which publishers set the consume price, and hasn't signed an agreement in the U.S. to sell its books directly on Apple's iBookstore.

"The Google e-book store will enable us to increase the readership and the revenue for our authors, and that's what we're here for," said Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Random House. Mr. Applebaum noted that Random House's relationship with Apple remains unchanged.

Mr. Turvey said that he expects many members of the American Booksellers Association to eventually use Google eBooks to sell digital titles to their customers, as well as other retailers not affiliated with the ABA. In addition, he said that bloggers and others who wish to direct their visitors to Google's digital titles could earn a commission through an affiliate program. He declined to say how much affiliate sellers will receive, except to say that the rates will "be competitive."

Mr. Turvey noted that some retailers will likely begin exploring the option of selling a bundle that combines a physical book with a digital edition. Some publishers fear that bundling could help drive down e-book prices, but it's likely that there will be a wide variety of experimentation in this area.

Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com and Amir Efrati at amir.efrati@wsj.com
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