# How old are the satellite pics on Google Maps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 3, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615 "2007-12-03T03:32:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/41 "2007-12-05T23:51:36Z")
On March 24. 2004, Veterans Stadium in Phila. PA was demolished: The wreckage debris is still visible in the pic. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/42 "2007-12-06T00:23:04Z")
I just checked out [maps.live.com](http://maps.live.com) of my house and it’s a really fuzzy picture, but definitely Post-Katrina, and after I moved back into the house last October. But, check out the Bird’s eye view. I don’t know if it’s just here, but it was a much clearer picture and you can see it from 4 different angles. The 4 shots were taken pretty close together. I noticed one car moved in my neighborhood in one of the shots, but I can clearly identify my cars. My guess is that they were taken between October of 2006 and March of 2007 due to some landscaping I did in March. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/43 "2007-12-06T01:07:40Z")
Google maps and Google Earth still have terrible low-res views of my area. Which is odd, as going just a few miles north and a few miles south brings one into areas with very sharp detail, and relatively up to date, too. My home must be under some clandestine government blurring program. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/44 "2007-12-06T01:48:19Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] On March 24. 2004, Veterans Stadium in Phila. PA was demolished: The wreckage debris is still visible in the pic. [/QUOTE] Google Earth also shows the San Diego Padres’ PETCO Park in the early stages of construction. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/45 "2007-12-06T02:00:30Z")
Does [maps.live.com](http://maps.live.com) require Windows? Because I’m checking it out using Safari on a Mac, and I’m not seeing any satellite photos. Just plain old maps. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/46 "2007-12-06T04:29:37Z")
Earlier this year when I checked my location using Google Maps it showed most of the condo complex where I now live as still under construction. The building I lived in was just a clewared space on an unpaved road. Now it shows all of the buildings, including the ones that were still being built when I moved in. So they must have just updated the satellite pictures. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/47 "2007-12-06T06:18:00Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Where are you finding that? I tried switching on the relevant layer in Google Earth, but I just get a mishmash of loads of overlapping squares and dates, which you can only see when zoomed out, so it’s impossible to see which date is the one for the area you’re looking at. FWIW I didn’t even see a 30 August 2007 for the area in Belfast you were looking at. There was a 2007-09-30, but also loads of others nearby. I can’t see any easy way of finding out which pic you’re actually looking at. 😕 [/QUOTE] I used the scientific method. I picked the nearest one. I agree, it’s a chaos of overlapping squares, and going back to it leaves me far from certain that I got the right one. Apologies for the misplaced air of certitude. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/48 "2007-12-06T07:06:05Z")
The one of my house shows a pickup I haven’t driven since 2003. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/49 "2007-12-06T15:36:40Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Google maps and Google Earth still have terrible low-res views of my area. Which is odd, as going just a few miles north and a few miles south brings one into areas with very sharp detail, and relatively up to date, too. My home must be under some clandestine government blurring program. [/QUOTE] Don’t despair – my house was in the mighty blur zone from 2005 until just this last summer when it got some fairly hi-rez imagery, and I could at last see my neighborhood. So Google does seem to make slow progress at getting better coverage of areas. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615/50 "2007-12-06T20:37:29Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] My home must be under some clandestine government blurring program. [/QUOTE] Probably just interference from the neutronium… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-are-the-satellite-pics-on-google-maps/428615.md?page=2)