That's very odd, and unusual for Google - outlier. The place I grew up, Fawn Lake, British Columbia, has had three or four revisions to its satellite pictures since 2008. I watch my mother do construction on her property, and by how many outbuildings there are, I can see that it has been updated in at least the last 2 years. Population about 250 (generous estimate) in the 200 square miles around Fawn Lake.
The big problem with this is, we have a situation where Google maps is very obviously inferior, to all competing solutions – even paper maps are now more up to date – and yet, everyone still uses it. Because it’s the default.
That shows just how powerful the advantage of a default app is, and how at this point, Google Maps is entirely without competition just because it is the default.
Not even when Google Maps sucks do people switch away – often because many don’t even know there are alternatives.
(And btw, this issue isn’t just like that in one German city, Google Maps is here like that in many places).
