Accuracy of Google and Overture keywords tools

[vabtz]

I was looking at my logs and noticed to my suprise that my page about "general widget stores" ranked high for "manufacturer name widgets"

It wasn't a large amount of traffic but obviously people were looking for it.

So I checked Overture and the keyword tool said no one looked for "manufacturer name widgets"

Then I checked Google Adwords Tools and it pretty much indicated no one searched for "manufacturer name widgets"

This led me to the question of How accurate are these tools?

And what are the alternatives to them?

[mona]

WordTracker is the one most people use along with Overture and G. They are sort of accurate but as you've found out by no means completely. I think about them in two ways.

1) Use the results as a guideline. Always assume a given search could be higher or lower than the numbers say.

2) Consider them one tool in your keyword research. Look at what your competitors are optimizing for, use your imagination, and study your log files.

[vertronics]

I've been told that when looking at Overtures keyword research results, you can expect about 8 times the trafic from G.

Can anyone confirm this?
~vertronics

[AjiNIMC]

Just use them as to get the estimated search, nothing is accurate.