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.