Discrepancies in google adwords. Do they deliver the clicks they say..

Does google short change you on clicks?

[jakegotmail]

I have a Yahoo store, which has great tracking features.
I have been trying to figure out if google Adwords is worth the money.

I thought I would try to look at the stats, and see what I could come up with.

We sell travel packages to different sporting events
Example

google search" 2004 Race Name

-We show up 1.4 in google adwords

-our WEB SITE shows up 3rd in the same search.

Google adwords (by their stats) say they have delivered 59 clicks from March 1st- March 9th.

When we check the stats via Yahoo store, it says that 9 people have clicked on that link via google.

Any suggestions on what is going on?

[TheDave]

Clicks from affiliates, AOL etc.?

[daroz]

Judging from the midnight report I just got mailed to me (covers last ~30 days) and a very quick check of the AdWords stats page... (Keep in mind a 3hr difference in time when defining a 'day')

I've found the total AdWords clicks and my own counts tend to err in my favor more often then not, and usually by a fair amount.

I get AdWords hits from all over the net - not just 'google.xxx' domains, don't forget AOL, and the myrad of ISPs using Google/AdWords.

The only semi-reliable way to track AdWords clicks is by using unique URLs for AdWords -- and I don't know enough about Yahoo to talk about how to do that.