The release of the new satellite overlay functionality of Google Maps has ignited tremendous interest in this form of imagery. While it's true that we've had public satellite imagery available for some time, never was it as intuitive, speedy, and usable for curious browsing as Google Maps is (as a personal example, I regularly include links to the correlating images when discussing locations with friends, and have found myself planning family outings based upon satellite imagery of parks and such. Recently after noticing odd animal tracks at a nearby park, I perused the correlating satellite image to gauge if the surrounding wildness could support animals of any size).
Given this development, and the likely scenario that satellite imagery is only going to get more prevalent (I would anticipate alpha-blended satellite imagery on all forms of maps, such as GPS navigation systems), it seems obvious that advertisers are going to try to capitalize on the situation. In fact, some already have (in that case I suspect it was to wow overflying aircraft). Whether by careful painting of parking surfaces and roofs, or the use of planned roof colouring in complex arrangements of buildings, advertisers could embed their branding in the satellite imagery for a region.