How Does Google Earth Get Its Images? Sources, Age, Accuracy and Better Alternatives

By Mustafa Jawaad, General Manager, XRTech Group

Quick answer: Google Earth gets its images from three main sources. Commercial imaging satellites run by companies such as Vantor (formerly Maxar) and Airbus supply most of the detailed views, at about 30 to 50 cm per pixel. Aircraft flown by Google and by aerial survey firms photograph cities at even finer detail and supply the 3D buildings. Free government satellites such as Landsat and Copernicus Sentinel-2 fill in the zoomed-out globe. Google licenses these photos, removes clouds and colour differences, and stitches them into one seamless map. Google Maps satellite view uses the same imagery. Because it is a mosaic, the picture of any place is usually months to several years old, not live.

Google does not operate its own imaging satellites, so every Google Earth picture you look at was captured by someone else's satellite or plane, then licensed and processed by Google. Knowing where those pictures come from explains almost everything people ask about Google Earth: why one street is sharp and the next is blurry, why the image is years old, why colours change at a line across a field, and why you cannot just download it for a project. At XRTech Group we sell imagery from the same class of satellites Google licenses, so this guide also shows where Google Earth ends and commercial satellite imagery begins, and which one fits your purpose.

Where Does Google Earth Get Its Images?

Google satellite images are really a blend of satellite and aerial photos from many suppliers. The source changes with your zoom level and your location:

You can see who supplied the picture you are looking at. In Google Earth, check the credit line and the Data attribution link in the bar at the bottom of the screen. In Google Maps, the line starting with "Imagery ©" at the bottom right names the providers. Credits such as CNES / Airbus, Vantor, Landsat / Copernicus or an aerial firm tell you whether you are looking at satellite or aircraft imagery.

Google Maps satellite view over Newark, New Jersey. The credit at the bottom right reads Vexcel Imaging, an aerial photography company, so this sharp view was taken from a plane, not a satellite. More on the difference in aerial vs satellite imagery.

How Google Turns Raw Photos Into the Google Earth Map

A satellite photo straight from orbit looks nothing like the smooth globe you spin in Google Earth. Before a picture goes live, Google processes it in several steps:

1. Selection: Google picks the clearest licensed image for each area, favouring recent, cloud-free and high-detail captures.
2. Orthorectification: each photo is corrected for camera tilt and terrain, so roads and buildings sit in the right place on the map.
3. Cloud and haze removal: an AI model called Cloud Score+ flags clouds, shadows, haze and mist so cleaner pixels can be used instead.
4. Colour balancing: brightness and colour are matched so neighbouring images blend together. Where this fails, you see a visible seam or a sudden colour change.
5. Mosaicking: thousands of images taken on different days are stitched into one continuous layer. That is why a single screen can mix captures from different months or years.
6. 3D modelling: in many cities, aircraft photograph the same streets straight down and from 45° angles. Photogrammetry software matches those overlapping photos to build the textured 3D buildings and trees.

Google Earth vs Google Maps Satellite View: Same Images?

Yes. The Google Maps satellite image and the Google Earth map satellite view come from the same imagery library, so your street looks the same in both. The difference is the tool around it. Google Earth adds historical imagery, a timeline, measuring tools and a full 3D globe, while Google Maps adds directions, place details and Street View in a simpler map. If you mostly use Maps, our guide to Google Maps satellite view shows how to switch it on and get the clearest picture.

How Old Are Google Earth Images?

Google updates imagery on no fixed schedule. How old Google Earth pictures are depends mainly on how many people look at an area and how often planes or satellites are paid to capture it. As a rough guide:

These are typical ranges, not guarantees, and the date can differ between two neighbouring tiles. Google Earth shows a date for flat imagery where the provider supplied one, but shows no date for 3D views, because they are built from flights on several days. To find the exact date for your own street, follow the steps in how to see your house on Google Earth. And no, there is no live view: we explain why in can I see a live satellite view of my house.

How Accurate Is Google Earth?

Accuracy has two parts: how much detail you can see (resolution) and how close each point is to its true position on the ground (positional accuracy). Google publishes neither, so independent researchers have measured it against surveyed points:

In short, Google Earth is usually within a few metres in well-covered areas and can be tens of metres off in older or remote imagery. That is fine for finding a place, but not for boundaries, engineering or legal use. By comparison, leading 30 cm commercial satellites are specified at roughly 3.5 to 5 m CE90 straight from the satellite, and can reach under 1 m when corrected with ground control points. Our guide to CE90 horizontal accuracy explains how that is measured. If your view looks soft rather than misplaced, see why Google Earth is blurry.

What Google Earth Pictures Cannot Do

• No choice of date: you see whatever Google has licensed, and you cannot order a new capture of your area.
• No raw data: you get a screen view, not a georeferenced GeoTIFF with capture metadata, so it cannot go straight into GIS or CAD.
• Natural colour only: there are no near-infrared or multispectral bands for crop health, water or vegetation analysis.
• Mixed dates: a mosaic can join images from different years, which is risky for evidence or change detection.
• Limited rights: Google's geo guidelines allow some uses with attribution, such as presentations or editorial use, but not reselling the imagery or using it as source data for paid products.

Google Earth vs Commercial Satellite Imagery: Comparison

Here is how free Google satellite images compare with free government data and paid commercial imagery:

Commercial Satellite Imagery Providers Compared

Google licenses from some of these operators. Buying direct, or through a supplier like XRTech Group, gives you the full-quality file and a known date:

XRTech Group sources imagery from a network of more than 130 optical and radar satellites, so we can quote the best sensor for your area, date and budget rather than a single brand. For the full list of operators, see our guide to every commercial imaging satellite, and for free options, where to get high-quality satellite images for free.

Which Should You Choose? Best Source for Each Purpose

Match the source to the job:

Other Google Imagery Services Worth Knowing

• Google Earth Pro: the free desktop app, with historical imagery, image dates, measuring and higher-resolution image export.
• Google Earth Engine: a cloud platform for analysing Landsat, Sentinel and other public datasets at scale, free for research and non-commercial use and paid for business.
• Gemini in Google Earth: AI features that let professional users ask questions about places and find objects in imagery, rolling out first in the US to paid plans.
• Google Maps Platform: developer APIs, including photorealistic 3D tiles built from the same aerial data as Google Earth's 3D cities.
• Street View: ground-level 360° photos, now viewable with older dates inside Google Earth as well as Maps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Google Earth Help: How images are collected
• Google: Imagery updates to Google Earth and Maps, including Cloud Score+
• Potere, Sensors: Horizontal positional accuracy of Google Earth's high-resolution imagery archive
• ISPRS Archives: Horizontal accuracy assessment of Google Earth data
• Vantor: Maxar Intelligence becomes Vantor
• Gizmodo: Google's fleet of airplanes for 3D mapping