No April Fools~Amazon to buy GoodReads

Amazon to Buy Goodreads (GalleyCat) Amazon has just revealed that they will acquire Goodreads, the social network for readers which was also a TechBFF on this blog way back in 2010. The online retailer did not share the terms of the deal and expects to finalize the acquisition by the second quarter of 2013. Publisher’s Weekly writes, “The purchase comes amid mounting rumors that Goodreads, which CEO Otis Chandler launched in 2007, might start selling books directly from its site.” paidContent explains, “In an interview Thursday, Chandler and Amazon’s VP of Kindle content Russ Grandinetti stressed that Goodreads will not change for the worse following its acquisition by Amazon.” AppNewser reports, “Twitter users are already lamenting the news.” TechCrunch predicts, “This type of social integration could give Amazon a major advantage over e-sellers like Apple, who have no social components to their product whatsoever. With people actually discussing and sharing the books that they’re into, having an Amazon direct connect makes complete sense. The site can offer special deals to Goodreads users, which in essence is now Amazon’s book-reading social network.” ~content via MediaBistro