Google Earth, on its own, is a huge repository of information. It literally holds the visual data, in 3D, of the entire planet, and the fact that Google is still actively developing this software, is a meritorious thing indeed. The question, however, is how often does Google really update the map data that they have on Google Earth.
First, let us talk about the kind of data that Google really has onboard Google Earth.
Images. Lots and lots of images. Google uses satellite imagery and on-ground support to collect thousands of photos of places all over the world, and using multiple angles, these images are converted into 3D which then translates to the interactive 3D experience that we all see on our screens.
Nowadays, Google also allows individual users to contribute photos that they add to their already huge repository, and what this does, is allow people to see the most up-to-date photo of the place they are trying to visit. However, what we need to understand is that the Earth is a huge place and it is not humanely possible for anyone to update the whole of the planet in one go, which brings us to our original question-
How often are these images updated on the Google Earth platform?
A quick visit to the Google documentary will show you that the Google Earth platform is updated once a month, which, all things considered, is not too bad. However, all the places are not always updated in this monthly cycle. Google’s approach is to go tile by tile, in order to capture the best version of each place on the planet, and every month, they earmark certain regions that will be updated, and the same is announced to the users after the update.
At the same time, there may be some places that have reported no activity and as such, are pretty much unchanged since their last update, in which case, Google will most likely omit them from their upcoming cycle, and will only bring it back into the limelight if a user or satellite imagery sends back some new footage.
So, if you are anticipating your hometown to get updated, it’s better not to hold on to too much hope as Google has its own timeline for the updates and so, places will only get a change when they deem it fit.
Whatever the case, Google Earth is still a magnificent application to use, any time and anywhere, and the best part is, it is also available on your smartphones, so go ahead, travel the world, from the comfort of your homes.
You can download and run the Google Earth application from your computer using this link.
