Something I noticed recently, Google added a Bing Maps style birds eye view into their satellite view. Looks like it's limited to specific cities, but started showing up this summer according to this.

It's pretty noticeable in Austin TX, as the city goes from looking green (from satellite photos taken in the spring or fall) to brown with some leafy trees appearing bare (probably winter) as you zoom in. It's only showing me this on the desktop though, not in the iOS version of Google Maps.