Enabling Customers to Discover Books by Searching and Previewing the Text Inside
LONDON July 20, 2005: Amazon.co.uk today announced the launch of "Search Inside!", a unique innovation pioneered by Amazon.com in the US, which enables customers to find and discover books by searching the full text inside them, not just matches to author or title keywords.

In collaboration with leading publishers, Amazon.co.uk is enabling customers to find books at Amazon.co.uk based on every word inside more than 125,000 books--more than 39 million pages of searchable text.

With Search Inside! customers can search for "Olympic Torch", for instance, and discover books with the words in the text.

For the 12 months after Amazon.com launched Search Inside! in October 2003, sales growth for titles included in Search Inside! outpaced growth for titles not in the programme by seven percent.

Search Inside! is integrated into Amazon.co.uk's standard book search and includes books from all genres. This new feature even allows customers to browse through portions of the book such as the covers, flaps, table of contents and index.

Kes Nielsen, Senior Books Manager at Amazon.co.uk, said: "Search Inside! fits perfectly with Amazon's mission to help customers discover anything they want online. This innovation goes way beyond the traditional browsing experience by enabling customers to find books that they didn't even know existed."

Philip Kisray, Vice-President and Sales Director, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, Ltd says: "The Search Inside! programme is an important step in further improving content 'discoverability'. It also enables customers to make an informed purchase, making the process more satisfying and efficient for them."

Through Search Inside!, customers can find, discover and buy titles from more than 70 publishers, including some of the industry's largest: John Wiley & Sons, Orion, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Blackwell, Time Warner, Oxford University Press and Lonely Planet.

Here's how it works:

 

  • Let's say that you're interested in finding books about the glycemic index. Just as you do today, type "glycemic index" into our books' search box and click the GO button. You'll receive two sets of results-Amazon.co.uk's "Most Popular" results and "Search Inside!" results. Books in the programme are easily recognisable because they have the "Search Inside!" logo shown on them.
  • Click on the "Search Inside!" results and you'll see books that have "glycemic index" in the text along with a sample excerpt including that word or phrase and a link that says "See more references to "glycemic index" in this book." By clicking on this link, customers will see a list of excerpts from all pages on which "glycemic index" appears in the book they selected, as well as a link to view the full page from the book on which the excerpt appears.
  • Once customers have clicked on the link to a specific page and signed in with their Amazon.co.uk user name and password, they can view relevant pages, including the page they selected, and search for other terms of interest within the book. In order to use the service, customers must be a recognised Amazon customer who has previously purchased an item. For more information, see www.amazon.co.uk/searchinside.

Additional examples of the range of books available to search include:

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Time Warner)
Easy GI Diet -by Helen Foster (Hamlyn)
Dr Gillian McKeith's Living Food for Health (Piatkus)
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki (Time Warner)
What to Expect the First Year by Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E Murkoff and Sadee E Hathaway (Simon & Schuster)
The Selfish Gene by Steven Pinker (Oxford University Press)
How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera, Third Edition by Dave Johnson (McGraw-Hill)

Customers are encouraged to type words and phrases of interest into the new search box, and enjoy whatever surprises they might find.

Customers can check out www.amazon.co.uk/searchinside to learn more about the new feature, and see more sample searches.

For further information please contact the Amazon.co.uk press office on 020 8636 9280.

About Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk opened its virtual doors in October 1998, and strives to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.co.uk and sellers list millions of new and used items in categories such as Books, Music, Video, DVD, Software, PC & Video Games, Electronics & Photo, Home & Garden, and Toys & Games!. Through Amazon Marketplace, zShops and Auctions any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.co.uk's millions of customers. Amazon.co.uk customers enjoy the benefits of industry-leading online-shopping technology, such as secure credit-card payment, personalised recommendations, streamlined, 1-Click® ordering and hassle-free Bid-Click® auction bidding. Through Amazon Anywhere, Amazon.co.uk is also available on mobile phones with WAP technology--see www.amazon.co.uk/anywhere for details.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven websites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, international expansion, consumer trends, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and all subsequent filings.