please answer exactly thanks in before hand
We know that the Google search infrastructure is distributed amongst a number of data centres worldwide; therefore it is reasonable to assume that the AdWords delivery and AdSense serving infrastructure is also.
However, you only look at your AdWords or AdSense account statistics from a single point within the Google internal network; and therefore how up to date your stats appear depends upon on how recently statistics will have been reported and then collated from each data centre.
I do not have any internal knowledge of how Google works, but from my background in programming and systems engineering I would assume that in a system of this size the process of gathering and processing your stats will not take place on any kind of fixed schedule. Instead, data will be incoming from each data centre "ad-hoc"; and then processed in some kind of queue based system before finally reaching your account.
This is why AdSense reporting is not real time, and why AdWords changes are not instant. However, the distributed nature of the system also explains why sometimes an AdWords change may appear to be instant, and an AdSense click-through may be reported within seconds.
[edited by: dmorison at 8:35 pm (utc) on Jan. 11, 2006]
You're going to scare everyone off from answering with that "please answer exactly" ;) -- AdWords is a bit unpredictable you might have noticed.
Hopefully, AWA will pop up on this thread, but officially AdWords says that "Clicks and impressions received in the last 3 hours may not be included here."
My own experiences has been that they usually are a little better than 3 hours most of the time, but give themselves that "extra breathing room".
Of course, now and then AdWords will lag by many hours due to server issues.
You should also be aware that usually either:
clicks lag behind impressions
-- or --
impressions lag behind clicks
during the day.
Can't keep that one straight, but either way it makes mid-day checking somewhat less than accurate.
I'm reporting my AdWords experiences.
AdSense, I never pay much attention to daily.
---
Someone smarter than me pipe in please?
Israel
I see someone smarter types faster than me too since that response wasn't there when I began writing my post ;)
Israel
Hopefully, AWA will pop up on this thread...
I think that you and Dmorison have admirably summed up this subject, Israel, and have fully answered Billy_Blue's question. ;)
Bottom line, the stats are always in the process of being updated, and typically run up to three hours behind - quite often less, and, on occasion, a bit more.
AWA
