If your company’s HQ has a large, flat rooftop, you might consider doing some advertising via Google Maps/Earth. Apparently, a new trend is being set by a consulting firm Phillips&Company located in Austin, Texas. Following their philosophy that “Space in no longer merely a destination, but a dynamic platform for applications and services that connect the globe, secure our families, power our infrastructure and ultimately change our lives” and being a company interested in “Space Economy”, they have come up with a way to physically install enormous QR (Quick Response) codes over buildings’ rooftops – a service called “Blue Marble”.

The QR codes get photographed by satellites orbiting the Earth, the images are then processed into Google’s map databases, and eventually become visible to people on their computers through Google Maps and Google Earth.

The whole process takes about three months (in accordance with the standard Google schedule) and costs $8,500 plus a recurring $200 support fee (QR code production, site installation, content strategy consulting, satellite or aerial image capture and monthly access to a mobile content management and behavioral analytics platform included). Companies that want to have their rooftops captured off-schedule are charged $49,500.

After scanning the code, the customer receives all the relevant data (coupons, videos and mobile websites) designed by 44Doors, a partner mobile marketing company involved in the project.

According to Phillips, “The QR code will be made available on Google Maps for at least 12 months from image capture. While standard billboards can cost between $10,000 and $30,000 per month on average and are limited by geography, a space-accessible billboard is available at a cost 75 to 98 percent less and to everyone on the planet with Internet access”.

Having in mind that an estimate 1 billion people worldwide are using Google Maps, that Google Earth has been downloaded over 500 million times since its release, and that 14 million mobile users scanned a QR code in June 2011 alone (according to ComScore), this is more than a promising way to advertise your company.