Google API vs. Google Website, different results?

Estimated count vastly different

[molsen]

I just tried two identical searches, one through the google.com web site and the other through the google api (using Java). The value returned by the "getEstimatedTotalResultsCount" method is vastly different.

Here is a search I just performed:
term: "widget"
via web site: about 3,290,000 results
via api: about 526,000 results

Is there a flag or variable in the API that would be causing this discrepancy? Any else run into this and have any solutions?

I have a feeling that the api uses a different cluster then the web searches. If so, there is probably no way around it.

-MOlsen