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Google recently declared its capability to index .epub documents, a popular format often utilized for printing books on e-readers. Furthermore, Google has begun displaying EPUB books within its search index.
EPUB stands as an XML-based eBook publishing format rooted in a standard pioneered by the International Digital Publishing Forum. In 2016, this forum merged with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), aiming to unite electronic book publishing with the Internet, fostering a symbiotic relationship for mutual enrichment.
Aligning with the convergence of e-publishing and the Internet, Google’s move to index (and potentially rank) EPUB content appears congruent. The only astonishment may lie in the eight-year span it took to implement. Google’s official changelog succinctly notes:
“Adding EPUB to indexable file types.
What: EPUB added to the list of indexable file types.
Why: Google Search now supports EPUB.”
I performed a site:search to locate EPUB content and came across a scientific research paper titled “Consumption of Contaminated Lake Fish and Reproduction,” hosted on the journals.lww.com domain.
Subsequently, I conducted a regular search using both the exact match keyword phrase and a variation (“Consumption of Contaminated Fish in Lake Ontario”). Google didn’t directly display the EPUB document but instead presented the webpage containing the download link to access the EPUB document.
Google’s official documentation on indexable file types only specifies the file types that are eligible for indexing. Currently, it’s reasonable to conclude that Google does not rank EPUB documents. However, it does display them when searched with the “filetype:epub” operator.
Original news from SearchEngineJournal
