When Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) launched the Kindle e-reading device in 2008, its grand vision was to transition physical books into more easily distributable and cheaper book downloads, but keep the experience the same as the newsprint in many books we all know and love. Unfortunately, Amazon knew that more competitors would inevitably show up to challenge it. The latest: Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad device.

Just when the competition between Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle device and Apple's (AAPL) iPad tablet were starting to heat up, a third and powerful entrant may throw itself into the ring next month. Google (GOOG) is tapped to start selling digital books come June.

What devices will be able to read these digital books may be a mystery (for now), but you can bet that Google's Android operating system may be behind a new device sold in consumer electronics stores, and perhaps Google's website itself.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stated its intention to buy a website fraud prevention company in order for it to more effectively scan books and publications into digital form for its massive (and controversial) Google Books initiative.

When Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced that it would be scanning in millions of books for Internet users worldwide to use free of charge on its Google Book Search site, the company most likely predicted that it would face legal scrutiny and other types of scrutiny from publishers and copyright owners worldwide. Indeed, soon after, many started cringing about Google's plans to make all kinds of publications accessible to the general public.

As Google faces lawsuits, it wanted to learn how its rivals are scanning books into digital format for customers to use and read. However, Google's largest competitor in this arena -- Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) -- won't be divulging how it goes about creating digital copies of books anytime soon. It especially will not let Google read about it.

Now, both Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Yahoo! have thwarted Google's attempt to learn they are scanning books into digital format, leaving the world's largest web search company to fend for itself.

One of the more public group of lawsuits comes from a group of publishers and the Authors Guild -- both of which have sued Google in a New York federal court. Both lawsuits allege that Google didn't get proper approval to make copies of books available to anyone with an Internet connection.

For the first time since the Google Books project was launched over two years ago, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has released the top picks among global online readers of its Google Books service. So, what are people around the globe reading then? The top of the expected odd list included readers of The Koran, a guide to tropical flowers, a robot-building manual and a text on interest rates. Hmm, that is an eclectic list, yes?

Google released this list during the same time a very large gathering of publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair was happening -- and for good reason. Although the releasing of book search results was termed an "experiment" by Google, I think the company wanted the publishing world to know what was popular, what was being read.

Can Google finesse its way into advertising using this medium like it has others (web, radio and even some television)? Who knows, maybe publishers will learn something about their audiences in a way never before known.

Sure, publishers and authors can track sales volume and critical comments on Internet bulletins, but the kind of real-time data Google is compiling about what is being read (and most likely, by who at some point) may make the tongues of publishers salivate in anticipation of -- well, something.

The kind of data Google continues to digitally pile up on the habits of web surfers and Google users beyond the search engine is staggering when you stop to think about it -- and it's a marketer's dream. That is, if Google can makes intelligent sense out of the minute-by-minute reams of data being produced on customers.