Google Wants Your Money: Search Engine Has PayPal in its Sights

Taking advantage of its dominant standing in the search engine world, Google is now setting its sights on the online payment market.

Rumors abound that Google will announce today its intent to openly take on Paypal, the Internet credit medium that has been a hot payment option for -- and major benefactor of -- the popularity of eBay.

Sources reveal that Google's first foray into online payments may resemble a simple Internet "wallet", something as simple as a network account (a service already adopted by Yahoo, which allows consumers to store their billing information via the web). However, most insiders agree that if the initial effort is successful, a deep infrastructure -- similar to what is already in place with Paypal -- could quite plausibly be constructed by Google. If such growth does take place, expect the Internet search king to offer payment options for everything from electronics to kitchen pots, and just about anything in between. (Source: news.com)

Hush, Hush

Google executives have been hesitant to publicly announce the ultimate goal behind their entry into online payments, leading many to speculate that Paypal is safe -- for now. As recently as Thursday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt admitted that the company is not yet launching a person-to-person compensation system. Even the most recent releases from Google executives are as ambiguous as the Bush administration. The company concluded a short statement Tuesday with, "We have nothing specific to announce at this time." (Source: pcworld.com)

If Google is trying to keep their intentions quiet, the effort may be fruitless. Vendors are, to say the least, giddy about the possibility. Google fans anticipate that the system will act as a "Paypal killer", and have already dubbed it "Gbuy".