Anyone know where it is exactly on Google Earth?

It's got to be fake. There's not enough disturbance to the ground around the picture to account for construction work.

Also, anything that size would either need to be on some kind of framework (which would show up), or be assembled from separate panels (the joins of which would show up).

No fake!!!
http://www.zorgloob.com/2006/04/eva-longoria-sur-google-earth.asp
here you can find the link to the KMZ file ;-)

Yeah, I guess it is real.(On the GEarth Blog).

yeah, its real.. but what happens if the satellite does not pass over and capture the image ?? Secondly images are not real time. So this takes a lot of upfront planning!!

"Erika Yowell, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told the Las Vegas Sun that her agency is involved with the promotion because the magazine's readers are a good target audience for the city."

So how do they (agency ?) know how long it will take for the image to be captured, and then made avialable for public on GEarth.

Anyone know the standard lag on Google Earth images? Where I live it is about 2 – 3 years.

This is fake. How do you ask? You have to download the kmz file and import into Google Earth then the xml data downloads a PNG file (photoshoped) in to your local PC as an overlay image on top of the existing ground. So you think that Maxim actually pulled this off by putting a giant poster when the satellites where scanning the surface? The actual coordinates are 35.62000012441331,-115.3829811832588 ... see for yourself.

You can examine by yourself by entering the coordinates on Google Earth or Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&t=k&ll=35.62,-115.382981&spn=0.001919,0.003659) and the compare it to this file which is the overlay image...

http://www.maximonline.com/maximusa/maximcover.png

It's fake. The picture is in an overlay in the KMZ file. Remove the KMZ file and go to the same location, you won't see the picture anymore.

If the poster is/was really there, the picture was taken by an airplane or helicopter, and not by a satellite. The resolution is way too high compared to other Google Earth material. This picture is not taken by a civil satellite.

If somebody living near Las Vegas is reading this, the exact location is the border town of Primm, right on the California-Nevada border. You can drive to the big parking lot at Buffalo Mountain Road, walk a few yards into the desert and see if it's still there... I think it's not.

Sam :Cord's are literal 35"37'11.96N & 115"22'58.88W
Its an overlay on google earth. But its fantastic way for real time ads via Earth. Excellent Resolution at approx 176ft

Yes, I did some digging and Luc comments above is correct. Its is not captured by sat – it was a set of photo's stiched together and then given to google who have overlaid this directly within the google earth server.

In esssense google has leased out some SqFt Area for ad's on Earth. Maybe for 1 month ? how long I dunna!!

But I like the idea.. they might as well do the same overlay in maps. However its not showing up on maps!!

pd, the picture is not on Google's servers. I looked inside the KML file, and there are links to 2 pictures on Maxim's webserver:

http://www.maximonline.com/maximusa/maximunder.jpg

http://www.maximonline.com/maximusa/maximcover.png

So, with Photoshop or another photo editing program, anyone can fabricate a fake situation like that, e.g. pretending that his logo or his photograph is on some building rooftop.

Just uncheck "Cover – All" and "Cover" in the Places sidebar and you will see the real image of the location.

Ok thanks for correcting my thought process.

Now the question is where is the value behind this gimmick ?? How do you think that Maxim actually benifts ??

So to get this strraight:

This picture really does exist and you can see it on Google Earth if you download the KMZ file above.

But the picture isn't actually on the Earth? i.e. if someone did drive up to it was requested above they would just find an empty bit of land?

"if someone did drive up to it was requested above they would just find an empty bit of land?"

=> if someone did drive up to it *as* was requested above they would just find an empty bit of land?

Sam: thats right, if someone drove to the actual location it would be empty land with no giant poster of Maxim cover.

I didn't read how Maxim is promoting this or why they did it, but if they did created this ad, its gotten alot of peoples attention, now they gain more traffic and sales for this little (fake) stunt. Free publicity, especially on communities like Digg is like a piece of heaven for Maxim Magazine.

The picture does not exist on Google Earth... you have to download the kmz file to see the Maxim poster on GEarth. If you download for the first time Google Earth you and goto the coordinates you will not see it unless you download the file. **

** Geez, how many times does this have to be said.

LOL.

The billboard is probably really there, but Maxim had to provide their own photos of the site, because Google Earth isn't likely to update their photos anytime soon. At the least, Maxim had to get new/different photographs of a large area around the magazine. They could have more easily photoshoped the magazine cover into the existing Google image if they just wanted to make a hoax.

Fake, an overlay. Well done, even if it was an overlay, but it could be better placed, I mean let's open an agency selling Ad Spaces.

Great Message delivery, even from Space, they are watching Maxim Ads.

Well, the coming years will be full of selling Advertising spaces (not robbie williams song) on Earth Space Mobile Cars, AIR,

And I believe the human eyes are evolving with this process (SPYometric Game)

It's real.
I've seen it on german tv "Punkt12", it shows how it was build and show a fly-over with a helicopter.

Luc & Josue >>> if you don't install the KMZ file, of course you see nothing, becauses images are 2-3 years old.
But IT'S NOT A FAKE : wait 2-3 years and, if nobody takes out the big cover, go on Google Earth and you will see that it's not a fake ;-)

I see it on CNN, it's real : http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/06/people.evalongoria.ap/index.html
I don't think that the Associed Press (AP) make fake photographies...

There is a video on a Swedish newspaper website showing the picture in the desert. It is in Swedish but I guess that doesn't really matter..

http://www.expressen.se/webb-tv/index.html?serialid=49067

Miel says the ad (on earth) is real, but the KMZ file (on Google Earth) is fake...

it's not really a fake because the picture comes from an aerial photographies (by plane, or helicopter).

The picture is not fake. The mission was flown back in february, using a RC-30 analouge camera on a PAV-30 stabalized mount from about 3,000ft AGL.

The 'poster' was actually about 25 miles south of Vegas. The first day was partly cloudy and imagery wasn't that great, but the second day saw a high pressure system roll in and it was perfect for imagery. The only thing that was trouble was the dork in the pickup truck that was there.

From when we flew the mission, sent the film off for developing, digitally scanned it, georeferenced the image, and then sent it off to google, was just under a week

And yes the high resolution imagery on stuff like google earth and the upcomming microsoft site are taken from aircraft.