martinibuster - 6:01 pm on Oct 28, 2011 (gmt 0)

The problem with that is you don't know when the link was added, only when Google etc have picked it up.

Right, that is what the OP is after. How to get the information before Google decides to show it. It was left unstated (but it should be understood) that Google never shows complete backlink information. The backlink SERPs are only a sample.

I am trying to save you some time and to show that your wants and needs are flawed.

Thanks for your concern but the op has stated a valid reason for monitoring new links, to evaluate the success of changes made to a site. Other reasons are to monitor the continuing success of a site, track the success of a campaign (for example a press release), to spot negative trends, to identify when an important link has been granted so you can bookmark it and crow about it to validate the authority of your site (like a link from NYTimes or an important blog). Some new links are from copyright infringers who link to the infringed site in the belief that the link makes it fair use. It's good to keep an eye on those and kill them ASAP. There are many reasons to monitor new links. I do my best to monitor them as well.

If none of those reasons makes sense then please start a new discussion to probe further. I understand your intentions are to help, but it's not fair to the OP to take the discussion this far off topic. ;)