It wouldn't be a merger, its just a rumour of the possibility for accepting payments or some level of integration, however Google do have a history of experimenting with new tech and playing with idea's, this isn't however to say that it would be long lived as they also have a history of killing off non-profitable products or services which cause excessive complications. And with bitcoin in such a state of flux I wouldn't expect to see anything for a good number of years, it's value isn't stable enough for any of the big players to put much into it, and when it does get to that stage it's not going to be feasible to make any money on it. By all means its worth getting in at the ground floor, hence the investments but I would believe that all the big bucks have already been claimed.

Also, does anybody else find it extremely difficult to get any real time transactions in the UK?