My personal theory is that the Google Earth people take pictures of the disc Earth, and STRETCH them over a round ball.

Go to Antarctica on Google Earth.  Everything seems to converge into the South Pole, and if you Zoom In, things look like a star.  No "South Pole Station" to be found. 

Houses  in Anchorage, AK look square.  Houses in Perth, Australia look rectangular.   

On Apple's map Earth, The South Pole is a pre-rendered image that loads even on airplane mode, and you can see the line where it was drawn.