Space Satellite Just Took a New Picture of Your House in Iowa

I spy with my little eye...you.  Well, maybe if you were outside at the right time when this satellite swept over Iowa and Illinois.

But even if it didn't see you, it definitely saw any updates you made to your house, your business, and as you can see in the wild pictures below, all the recent big projects that have been updated in the Quad Cities.

How Often Does Google Maps Update?

According to Google, their maps are constantly updating.  Literally every second of every day.

We’re constantly collecting new information about the world, whether from satellite imagery and Street View cars, or Google Maps users and local business owners, and using that information to update the map.

But while they are always updating with street view and the satellite, how often does it actually fly over where you live?

It's a wide window of time with updates coming every 1-3 years.  Some places will update sooner due to a large event or a natural disaster.  However, if things remain mildly normal in your area, you can check back every 3 years.

Google Maps Recently Flew Over The Quad Cities

Google maps do not say when they are updated, but during a recent search for something on 53rd near 18th, I realized they recently flew by.  As you can see above, the new development in the area has townhomes and businesses that are being built.

And based on the color of some of those trees...I'm going to guess this was early fall.  Like September 20th...ish.

What You See Depends On Your Login

You might think that no matter how you open up Google Maps to see what is new at your house you'll be able to see it.  Not so fast.

After initially seeing the updates to the above area I came back to get the screenshots for this story, and that update was gone.  Did I dream it?  Did Google revert back to the old images?  No, it was because I was logged in using my Townsquare Media email.  And for some reason, it didn't show the updates.

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This actually worked out well.  Because after logging into my Gmail account, I was able to grab the before and after pictures of a couple of places familiar around town.

As you can see below, that is not the current bridge we drive over.

But on the update, you can see not only the new bridge but the destruction of the old bridge.

A place very familiar to music fans and much more was next on my search.  In the non-Gmail login, it still showed this at The Bend in East Moline.  Some labels.  Some buildings.  But nothing like what it is now.

While this area will continue to develop and grow in East Moline, it was nice of the Google Satellite to give us an updated view of the Bend XPO, hotels, and park.

If you've made it this far in the story.  Congratulations.  I'm surprised you aren't already on Google Maps looking at your own house to see all the improvements or wear and tear since the last time it came by.  Now you can go check and just know you have about 1-3 years to get that roof fixed before your house gets another picture taken from space.