Five Reasons Why Google Should Partner with Barnes & Noble... -Forbes (GOOG) (BKS)

A release from the company early Thursday disclosed Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) is considering strategic options for its NOOK e-reader line.

Forbes contributor, Michael Humphrey, offered some insight Friday morning as to why Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) should make an attempt at partnering with Barnes & Noble on its NOOK platform.

• The NOOK’s performance since launch demonstrates the device is one of the best tablets/e-readers which operates on the Android operating system. While Barnes & Noble has yet to turn the NOOK into a complete tablet such as Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad or Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Fire, some assistance from Google’s developers could create a solid competitor in the tablet market.
  
• A partnership would allow Google to enter over 700 Barnes & Noble brick and mortar stores without any of the cost. Google would be in over twice as many stores as Apple currently has in the U.S. and could better Barnes & Noble customer's experiences at their boutiques. The boutique is an area within Barnes & Noble stores were customers can use their own or the stores Nooks.
  
• Barnes & Noble currently controls 30 percent of the e-book market and Forbes believes this could increase with the help of a big name such as Google. This partnership would allow Barnes & Noble to effortlessly go international with its sales.
  
• Google could offer Barnes & Noble a large allowance for tech and R&D. Barnes & Noble currently spends roughly $200-$250 million annually in tech -- quite a large sum given an expected loss at the company this year.
  
• With Google’s help, Barnes & Noble may be able to better understand customers through tracking of habits, ie hints on other books they may be interested in based on their picks and other readers similar picks.

Have we mentioned Google ended last quarter with more than $42.5 billion in cash and equivalents...?

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