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01 Apr 2006
In the most wide-scale advertising attempt ever known, Google plans to brand its logo into the surface of the moon so that it is visible from Earth.
The search giant will pay the US government an estimated $1bn for the rights to the lunar land.
"You've heard of Google Mars and Google Earth, where we show you maps of those planets? Well this is Google Moon, where we become the world's biggest brand," said an unnamed source at the company.
The Americans were the first to lay claim to the moon back in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong took "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind".
Planting the flag on the Moon's surface has always been considered a gesture of being there first, but that claim has now paid off in real money terms for the US government.
Google announced this week that it would sell a further 5.3 billion shares to raise $2.1bn.
Google's official filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission said that the sale of shares was designed to raise additional capital for future acquisitions, but the company declined to be more specific about any current agreements or commitments.
Analysts speculated at the time that the company must have a major purchase in mind and it is now clear where the funds will be heading.
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Do you agree?
Haha
Love the angry responses on here. Very amusing. Well you CAN now advertise on the Moon. www.milliondollarmoon.com
Posted by: Meerkatfish 28 Sep 2009
Soo freakin funny...
First off most of you are completely retarded and should research things before u just go and believe it.... that is why bush and his duesche bag administration got away with all this crap, STOP BELIEVING EVERYTHING THE MEDIA SAYS just because they said it.... everyone who left a comment thinking was was true, you are the reason this place is so effed up, grow a brain, please..... -On a brighter note tho, i suppose it is a good thing that the idiots that believed this atleast got upset about it, marketing agents are the spawn of satan lol, i hate them all with a deep passion, boycott anyting that is over advertised, we can bring down the system, yay! =)
Posted by: Vinnie T 13 May 2008
This nonsense needs to stop
Is there nothing left in this universe that Americans cannot destroy or control...we must now move to other natural enitities and deface those with our consumerist bullshit! I won't let it happen and I'll be fighting this like I think every decent person should.
Posted by: T 15 Apr 2008
This is a Terrible Idea
I heard about this a few weeks ago and I was sure it was a joke. I wanted it to be a joke. I promised myself (not to mention my friends) that if any company ever did this, I would boy cot them until it stopped, and now I find out it's Google? Well, this is going to be fun. Why does Google believe this is a good idea anyway? Why? EVERYONE who as ever been on the Internet knows about them. There is no reason to spend 1,000,000,000 dollars (plus whatever the advertisement it's self costs) to deface one of the few things that every single person on the planet looks at. Who do they think they are going to reach with this that they haven't already? Maybe people in tiny third world countries that don't have the World Wide Web? That isn't going to help Google at all. And what makes the American Government think they have the right to sell Moon Advertising? For the record, I am an American Citizen, but this is too much. The only claim we have to the moon is that we landed a few people on it and left flags. The moon is clearly international public property. This isn't like increased advertising on television. We have choice to turn off the TV or switch channels if we don't like the advertising, but there is no option to switch to an unmarked moon. My only solace is that this idea has been proposed before and ultimately abandoned, and I really hope it happens this time to because I do not want to boycott Google.
Posted by: Oren Ashkenazi 05 Apr 2008
Well, I guess I got fooled
Kind of a dick move, leaving up a two year old April Fools article on the fifth. But part of me admires it.
Posted by: Oren Ashkenazi 05 Apr 2008
Maroons
It's a two * year * old * joke. C'mon people, get upset about a NEW joke at least. Oy
Posted by: donnar 29 Mar 2008
It's an April Fool - from two years ago!
linus, it's not early - it was an April Fool article from 2006 - it's just been picked up again recently
Posted by: Me 26 Mar 2008
Well.....
I cant recall what freeway it was but i saw an advertisment for the moon ads there.
Posted by: Jesse 26 Mar 2008
Google up to their old tricks again...
...of course it spoils the whole April Fool thing to publish such articles a whole week early.
Posted by: linus 25 Mar 2008
moonvertising
I don't think its a good idea to advertise on the moon forever, but I think it would be cool if it was possible ...and the "Google fascist" comment was unnecessary, but was apologized for, but in the same post, the comment on the military and america's unpopularity was equally unnecessary, and lowers my respect for Mr. Hammond, even though he will probably never read this blog again
Posted by: Hugh Jass 22 Mar 2008
are you serious?
I really hope that this isn't saying that Google is actually going to "carve" it's name into the surface of the moon?! That is absolutely ridiculous on so many levels. I only foresee bad things coming from this. It isn't bad enough that every place on earth is plastered with advertisements, but you have to branch out beyond our planet now? Is it just me, or does anyone else prefer the moon the way it is. I would prefer the romance and beauty of the Natural full moon as apposed to a giant orb billboard in the sky. This is crap!
Posted by: Brandi Dees 21 Mar 2008
I wish I thought of that first...
letzgoout.com should have gotten that right! If only we had $1bn...
Posted by: letzgoout.com 21 Mar 2008
old!
isn't it time this page was taken down? it's nearly 2 years old! although reading the comments is quite amusing - shows that it is wise to check the date on stories before posting your rant...
Posted by: c 18 Mar 2008
Google and the Moon
What Google intends to do sounds like no more than vandalism,graffiti. the moon should be protected, not defaced like this. what would you sooner see when you stare up into the moon, a myriad of craters,or an ugly great google logo? this should be stopped.
Posted by: DUnk 18 Mar 2008
awful
I think it is a completly awful idea to put advertisemnet on the surface of the moon for many of reasons! 1. Polluting the envirment 2. loosing the peace and serrenity of looking into the night sky, practicly the only thing untouched by humans.
Posted by: Robert 15 Mar 2008
DECLINE OF SOCIETY IS PROVEN...
This is disgusting to me. I could spend thousands of dollars to take a vacation to the south pacific and be on a remote tropical island at night and have to look up at the moon to see an advertisemet? Is nothing sacred anymore? I will surely hope a group of people donate money to hire a blimp to fly above any laser at night during new moons to preserve nature. I hope this is just a hoax.
Posted by: Chris Roach 13 Mar 2008
Are they insane.
This is absolutely disgusting, Can't there be a single thing in our entire universe that is not ruined by marketing campaigns? Now when young couples spend an evening watching the sunset, not only will they have a romantic evening, but they can be barraged by billboards as well. I say ney to moon advertising, and also have to question, who exactly has the rights to sell space on the moon? Just because Neil bounced around for a while does not mean Americans have the right to make a decision that effects the entire world.
Posted by: Anne 11 Mar 2008
The Moon Is Sacred.
The moon is sacred. The moon is a gift for everyone. Shame on you Google. The world is in great need and you're spending a BILLION dollars on sticking your name on the moon? Instead of desecrating the moon with your "brand", why don't you spend your billion dollars feeding the homeless, educating our children or taking care of our Veterans? A giant magnanimous gift will win a lot more fans than forcing stargazers to look at your logo.
Posted by: Susan Goforth 11 Mar 2008
Blue moon
don't even think about desacrating the moon with your google logo ......what are you nuts!! the last thing i want to see on a camping trip looking up at the night sky is an advertisment Google on the moon
Posted by: Billy Long 11 Mar 2008
Moonvertising
Speaking about advertising on the moon... looks like it's a hot commodity! www.moonvertising.com
Posted by: GAbs 01 Mar 2008
somebody already did it
google can forget this. somebody already put their logo on the moon. you can even post your own message. moonvertising.com
Posted by: ACMilanSF 29 Feb 2008
Remove article
I think it's time to remove this article; an april fool's joke is out of place ten months on.
Posted by: Signor 10 Mar 2007
not true
nobody owns the moon, just because the us stuck a flag on it doesnt mean they own it. no body owns it! the un controls it, meaning they will never allow anybody to mine it, inhabit it, and especially advertise on it. do you really believe the entire world will sit by while someone defaces one of the worlds most beautiful natural wonders? not a chance
Posted by: derek 28 Nov 2006
Apology for "Google fascists" comment
I would like to apologize for my earlier comments about Google being a fascist corporation because the web article had claimed that it supposedly had arranged a deal with NASA to advertise on the moon. This article on vnunet.com was of course an April Fool's joke, but I did not read the April 1, 2006 date on the article until I had posted my comment. When I had originally read this article, it sparked a memory of a news article (NBC or CBS or one of the American news networks) that I had seen on TV about ten years ago when one of the major softdrink companies (Coke or Pepsi, I can't remember which one) had proposed to have a large billboard built to float in orbit around the Earth to advertise their particular softdrink. Viewing the billboard from the ground, it was supposed to be about the size of the moon (not the actual size of the moon, but the size of the moon as it appears to us when seen from Earth). This proposal was strange but true. Fortunately, somebody put a stop to the floating billboard idea, but it is mind-boggling that a corporation would have the audacity and arrogance to think that they had a right to advertise wherever they felt like. That's why I wrote such an angry response before, because I thought, "Here we go again; another corporation that wants to play God and bombard us with their advertising." Anyway, the Google lunar rights was a practical joke and I apologize for going off half-cocked.
Posted by: Jon Hammond 06 Nov 2006
GOOGLE FASCISTS!!!!!!!!
i am greatly angered by google's proposal to have advertising rights on the moon, if in fact this ridiculous idea is true. the moon belongs to no one, it belongs to all of us. no corporation on this planet should ever be allowed to advertise on the moon or in outer space! what's next, will our skies be filled with floating billboards blocking out the beauty of the night sky? the sky, the stars, the moon, and the planets of our solar system belong to all of us, all of us! they are not the property of faceless corporations (american or otherwise). we should always want to be able to look up into the sky in wonder and not be subjected to advertising that serves the vanity and greed of any corporation!!!! this is absolutely appalling news and i am thoroughly disgusted with google! i hope that more people, especially powerful, influential people, become outraged by this proposed lunar exploitation and boycott your services! you goddamn morons!don't you realize that this selfish attitude of assuming that you can advertise wherever the hell you want will only further alienate your country from the rest of the world. maybe you haven't noticed, but your country isn't too popular these days. the fact that your military budget is higher than the gdp of many countries throughout the world is a testament to the fact that you don't have many friends out there. unilaterally laying claim to the moon and granting advertising rights will only provoke the anger and wrath of other countries (and hopefully your own citizens).
Posted by: Jon Hammond 20 Oct 2006
Theoritical
I think it will not possible, whatever.
Posted by: Amr 07 May 2006
What a waste.......
If I were them, I'd rather spend that money in some more R&D....
Posted by: NZ 30 Apr 2006
April First?
Is this an april first or is this really happening. Soon they will be watching us all.
Posted by: Peter Rattew 03 Apr 2006
OO--gOOgle--mOOn--spOOf
Gotta be an April Fool's joke by Google.
Posted by: Harvey 02 Apr 2006
uuuhhhhh
April Fools?
Posted by: hoodly 02 Apr 2006
Happy April Fools Day to you too!
fairly unimpressive april fool's joke.
Posted by: chris kiagiri 01 Apr 2006
You know what this is!
I would not put anything past google but this is most definetely one of the best April fools' day jokes I have seen for a long time. The 1 billion USD just did not sound right.
Posted by: Spike 01 Apr 2006
Success !
Hope success will make natural sightseeing vanash.. Success is nice.. limits make TM no inadmissable..
Posted by: Anthony 01 Apr 2006
hahaha
april fools!
Posted by: Court Jester 01 Apr 2006
Go Google
My cousin is working for Google and she said, she was head of the team which had to find suitable font, because not all fonts are visible clear from that distance. They have actually patented a couple of Google and GMoon fonts, just for that mission.
Posted by: Tilen Kordis 01 Apr 2006
Great plans
APRIL FOOL'S DAY!
Posted by: Speedmetal 01 Apr 2006
April fools perhaps?
This has got to be a joke...
Posted by: icehot 01 Apr 2006
Just "got it"
Man. I just realized it's April Fools Day
Posted by: Andrew 01 Apr 2006
April Fool!! :D
Lol, really funny April Fool's joke. The thing is, in a few years, this might actually become reality... Who knows?
Posted by: R3LOADED 01 Apr 2006
April Fools for sure!
Yeah, right! That's a good one, Google!
Posted by: Maria 01 Apr 2006