The much anticipated Gbuy, as it was known, has now launched as Google Checkout.

The launch was rumored to be sometime later this week, and most recently on Friday as the New York Times stated.

Google Checkout makes it easier for users to buy from stores all over the web, and track packages and shipments in one convenient location.

Google's system has fraud protection, which is a great feature that ensure users are covered against unauthorized purchases, when they are are made through Google Checkout.

Google has teamed up with a number of stores, and have offered discounts and special offers through them. These locations currently include Starbucks, GNC, Bluefly, Buy.com, and Timberland, and the specific coupon is for $10 off purchases over $20. Pretty sweet deal.

The system works by visiting a participating store through sponsored links with a shopping cart icon. When you see this icon, you know that that retailer is a participating member of the Google Checkout program. If you have a Google Account, or Gmail login, you can checkout extremely fast, no signing up or anything. All you have to do is review your order and wait for your shipment.

Best of all, Google tracks all of your shipments in one convenient location. Displaying the Order Date, Item, Seller, Status, and the dollar Amount of the item.

For Retailers, Google has also made the whole process of selling a lot easier, without the hassle. Through their Google Base program, retailers can easily set up storefronts. Then through Google Checkout, retailers can attract more leads, and convert more sales through Google's secure checkout process. Google has fraud prevention tools, so retailers won't have to worry about hackers.

So is the new Google Checkout a Paypal killer? We will have to see. But knowing Google, it will be very competitive and extremely user friendly. That combined with the integration with all of Google's other products like AdWords, Google Base, and Gmail, make this one mean tool.