I’ve been a fan of Google Earth since it was introduced, I don’t know the precise reason, but theres a lot to be said for flying in and out of cities around the world like a superhero. It makes you feel all conquering (even if they’re merely satelite images). The business model for Google Earth however leaves me curious. Is it a tool for Google to dissemate information to the masses? Or is it perhaps just another ‘information capture’ application to help Google better match and deliver contextual advertising.

Google have not hidden the fact that it may monetize Google Earth. Since January last year there have been isolated sightings of ads and adwords appearing in the Google Earth realm but it looks as though things have fired up again as content providers and advertisers are being drawn to the Google Earth platform as an effective medium to deliver their messages.

I was captured by the information I saw on MIT today about Bright GIS:

Bright GIS rents out billboard space all around the (virtual but real) world: “Promote your business through our world-wide network of hundreds of Google Earth Virtual Billboards. Located in dozens of cities around the world, these billboards can serve as the face of your organization in Google Earth. No experience with 3-D modeling necessary! We’ve already done the hard work for you. Simply provide us with a copy of your promotion, or work with our design team to develop your ad, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

Short of going out there in the real world and painting big logos and advertisements on the rooftops of buildings, this looks like the way forward. There is no doubt Google Earth can be a useful online educational tool but as sinister and as shallow as it may sound, it has the potential to be a very powerful online marketing platform as we traverse into the mature ages of web 2.0 and beyond.