OT: Google Maps

This is kinda off topic but I have a quick question. I've been using Google Maps a lot lately when researching places you guys have discussed but what I'm wondering is, how old are the pictures we are seeing?

For example, I brought up my parents house and it showed everything but we had a big snow storm about 2 weeks ago and the picture showed no snow at all. Just wondering. Thanks!

I believe the images are a min of 6 months to one year old.

When I first downloaded the program I remember reading that the photos are no more than 3 years old.
When I look at my neighborhood I can see a building that hasn’t been there for at least a couple years.

I've seen the pictures of my city change once since I've had the program. I think they did that just to make it look like winter.

Depends on the region, some places are 3 years old, some other place are newer pictures from 1 year ago. Google Maps is not real-time, they lease (or buy?) imagery from external sources. If I'm not mistaken a real-time satellite picture cost around $1000-$2000 each. And real-time is relative, you still have to wait for the satellite to fly over the region you want to snap a picture of. Only military satellite networks can snap a real-time picture on demand.

Oh, and just wanted to add. I noticed on some Google Maps pictures two seasons collide, its winter covered in snow and 3 feet away it's suddenly summer.