Google Maps and Google Street View have changed the way we explore our world. The ability to see almost anywhere at street level helps you explore other areas around the world and find a location visually to help you better locate it during a trip. But how often is Google Street View updated? Is the image you are seeing on your screen current or ancient history?
Google Street View launched in 2007 and started in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, Miami, and New York City. As the program expanded, more locations were added across the US. Then in 2008, Google Street View went international, exploring larger cities in France, Italy, Japan, and Australia.
Since then, Google’s Street View has gone even further and now includes most countries and most towns and cities within those countries. It is a huge task but one that benefits us all.
Street View images are obtained using a variety of equipment in addition to cars, ranging from attractive three-wheelers and snowmobiles to trekkers (backpacks) and strollers.
How often is Street View updated?
We’ll go into more detail below, but in this article, let’s pe deeper into your question.
Google Street View does not have an exact update schedule. If you are in a city or densely populated area, you will see an updated view fairly quickly compared to more rural areas. At the time of writing, it appears that Google is focusing on publishing new images online rather than updating older ones.
Unfortunately, Google does not maintain an exact schedule for every street in the world. But there are other Google tools you can use to figure out how current the latest version of Street View is.
Due to the nature of Google Maps, it tends to be updated much more frequently than Google’s Street View. If you’re not sure which Street View image you’re looking at, check Google Maps for directions. For example, if you see a “No Turn on Red”Sign in to the view, Google Maps will navigate your route accordingly.
If you’re wondering whether or not a business is still open, the Google search engine will give you that information too! Google the location and then check the hours of operation. Google is 99.9% accurate when telling you that a business is permanently closed. As for the operating hours, it is unpredictable as it can change many times without the owner updating it.
If you’re using Google Street View to find out if a friend still lives in the same house, you’re probably out of luck. If that’s the information you’re looking to gather, you’re more likely to get the results you want by consulting local county tax records than using Google Street View.
Despite the lack of an exact time frame, there are still ways to see where Google is headed next!
Google Street View Data Collection
Google Street View now uses two forms of updates to stay up to date. It still uses the camera cars that drive through our streets, capturing everything on its exclusive 360-degree cameras. According to a global schedule, these cars travel assigned routes in locations around the world.
This page on the Google website shows you the Google Street View Calendar, which provides when and where the Google Street View car and hikers plan to be at any given time. Scroll down the page to “where we are going”, and you will be able to see the published schedule.
The other source of Google Street View images comes from users. Google introduced this feature in 2017 to allow contributors to add their images to the Google Street View database for possible inclusion on the map.
Google Street View Updates
As you can imagine, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes to take the images of the cars and taxpayers, blur out faces and license plates, and prepare them for use in Google Street View. It takes a long time, from capturing the images to seeing them on the map.
There may be a schedule for taking new images, but there is no schedule for updating them on the web. You can tell when Google Street View was last updated in the bottom right corner. You should see a small box saying when it was updated, such as “Image capture: May 2018..”
Google says they prioritize areas without Google Street View imagery over updating those with an existing presence. They spent more resources adding to the project than updating it, which makes sense. If you check the Street View car schedule, you’ll see that the car is still retracing its steps, so not all vehicles are being sent to new locations. Some, at least, are updating existing images.
Fortunately, Google Maps shows you the month and year of the image you’re viewing when you click the Street View option.
Can I request a Google Street View update?
People often ask Google to revisit their city or street because it has been renovated, improved, developed or modified or because they didn’t like the photo the car took. Unfortunately, you can’t request a new image or update in Street View. The vehicle has a schedule and sticks to that schedule.
However, you can send a report to Google if there is a serious problem with your Google Street View. Click on “Report a problem” and submit the information.
Use the link to submit an issue to Google for review. Of course, you can always upload photos of the places you’ve traveled to using google maps. Provide images, comments, and even rate businesses using Google’s contribution feature within Google Maps by clicking on the three horizontal line menu bar and clicking “Contribute.”
Google Street View FAQ
Can I request an update in Google Earth?
Yes actually! While you can’t request an update in Street View, you can do so in Google Earth. Visit the “Google Earth website” and click on the “location”of the map you want to update. Click on “Comment” from the menu (the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner) and fill out the form. Be sure to include the text “I would like to recommend an image update.”before submitting your comments.
Can I see past images in Street View?
Some locations give you the option to view previous images. You will need to access Street View from Google Maps. In the upper left corner, you will see a small box with the photographer’s name and a portion of the address. You will see a small clock. Click on the clock and you will see a slider. Move the slider back (to the left) to view older images.
