Google Seeks Expanded Software Sales

By Michael Liedtke

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google (GOOG Quote) is offering financial incentives to expand the sales network for the software it sells to businesses while restricting the use of a free alternative in its quest to make money on something besides Internet advertising.

Under a new program to be unveiled Wednesday, Google will sell a package of e-mail, word processing and other office applications to third-party software resellers at a 20% discount in the United States. It will be up to the participating merchants whether the savings are passed along to their corporate customers, said Dave Girouard, who runs Google's business software division.

Google charges a $50 annual fee per user for its premium software service, meaning the vendors will have to pay the Mountain View-based company $40 per user. Girouard suspects many merchants will maintain Google's $50 base price to help defray their own overhead and shore up profit margins during hard times. ...