Booked Up

To the list of things that have been redefined by the explosive growth of cyberspace, America Online has added the word “exclusive.”

Last month, the world’s biggest online service announced an “exclusive” deal with BarnesandNoble.com, giving the online subsidiary of the Barnes & Noble book superstore chain “extensive placement and visibility” across AOL’s proprietary service in exchange for $40 million over four years.

In addition to AOL’s Marketplace section--which has featured Barnesand Noble.com since March--the bookseller gets special placement on such AOL sites as Entertainment Asylum and Digital City.

That news did not sit well with Amazon.com, the online bookseller that touts itself as “Earth’s biggest bookstore.” In July, the Seattle company struck its own three-year “exclusive bookseller agreement” with Dulles, Va.-based AOL, giving it sole placement on AOL’s Web site and on its NetFind search engine.

Two days after AOL announced the Barnes & Noble deal, Amazon.com issued a news release explaining that the deal with BarnesandNoble.com “has no effect on Amazon.com’s existing position as an exclusive bookseller on America Online.” The release even quoted AOL Networks Chief Executive Bob Pittman as saying that “Amazon.com is and continues to be one of AOL’s strongest partners.”

How can two retailers both be “exclusive”? The sleight of hand evidently comes from AOL’s relatively new strategy of seeking a wider audience by maintaining a Web site for all Internet users in addition to its proprietary members-only service. The Web site, at https://www.aol.com, carries different, and sparser, material than its $19.95-a-month subscription service.

No word yet from New York-based Barnes & Noble on its interpretation of the Amazon.com deal.