Google buys into GBuy online payment system?

The latest speculation on an impending Google payment system product launch is from RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan, as reported by Forbes.com. Rohan describes “GBuy”:

On its core search results pages, Google will designate each merchant accepting GBuy as a ‘trusted GBuy merchant’…Consumers using GBuy, which is set for release on June 28, will be taken off the merchant's site to complete the payment. This will enable Google to capture e-commerce transaction data, driving more precise targeting in future searches.

Google was questioned about its testing of a “high-quality merchant” sales program at its investor conference call 5/31/06:

Question: We saw some news that some testers out there are testing shopping from high-quality merchants for products like iPods, music cell phones. People are wondering, is that some sort of version of an eBay Express or an Amazon functionality?

Answer: (Jonathan Rosenberg, SVP, Product Management, Google). In general, the answer to that question is no. We have been working to automate the advertiser click cycle. In other words, what we want to do is the moment the customer decides to purchase something, we want to make that as fast as we possibly can. Google does have what is generally known as a payment system that would enable that. But it’s not the kind of payment system that eventually results in the kind of product that you’re describing. Think of as much more advertiser automation, very much focused on making the advertiser satisfaction much higher. Advertisers will see quicker returns, more click-throughs, better conversions, and then the rest is history.

UPDATE SEE ALSO Google June 28: Countdown to GBuy revolution, or to latest Google test, beta, invite… and Google and eBay take each other on and eBay PayPal vs. Google GBuy: Skype to 'send money' and Google GBuy specifics: 'Could be a game-changer'