Today, Google offiicially announced its mobile payment service - Google Wallet. Mobile marketers will want to monitor the impact of this development on consumers' on-the-go shopping behavior.

Google has unveiled Google Wallet, an app it developed in partnership with MasterCard, First Data and Sprint to enable consumers to tap and pay with their Android-powered Nexus S phones. The announcement follows much buzz within the internet marketing and smartphone-using communities from earlier this week, when rumors of a Google mobile payment service hit highs (likely contributing to the rise in searches for Google Nexus S).

As local merchants and mobile marketers speculated, the app allows consumers to pay for products with their devices and enables them to redeem coupons. In fact, users have an incentive to pay via smartphone because Google Wallet will automatically redeem offers and points to save them cash.

It will also sync with Google Offers, Google's neighborhood deals program. This gives marketers using the Offers service the chance to integrate their promotions with Wallet.

The company explains that Google Wallet is currently available to Citi MasterCard users and anyone who purchases a Google Prepaid Card. It supports Nexus S 4G right now, but Google expects to add more smartphones to its offering in the near future.

This development could have an impact on mobile purchasing behaviors, which Brafton has reported are already on the rise. Just yesterday, we covered reports suggesting that mobile search leads to purchases via smartphones, indicating that mobile search engine optimization is a marketing must.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.