JohnMu of Google said in a Google Webmaster Help thread:
“Yes, we revamped the data behind the backlinks feature in Webmaster Tools — it has started using more data from “Caffeine” for some sites and is planned to continue with a bit more data in the next week or so. The goal is to have more fresher & up-to-date data there.”
All I can say is…it’s about freaking time. But also scary. After months and months of making backlinks for one of my sites and watching them slowly drip away, for some still unknown reason, all the sudden I end up with 1000% more…and it’s still dripping away…at an accelerated rate!
Thinking it was a bug, I didn’t take notice. I didn’t even report it to my superiors, why get their hopes up? It also hasn’t changed anything in the SERPS for us anyways. However, it may have come just in time to save one of my employees jobs (My Link Builder).
Google confirms that this change is permanent, and for sure Caffeine related. The increases in the amount of links is huge. It actually seems very similar to the large numbers Yahoo usually gives, but comparing the two at the moment shows a much larger amount in Google Webmaster Tools than Yahoo Site Explorer (usually vice versa by alot.)
One of the most difficult things about SEO is trying to prove WHAT produces WHAT type of traffic. It is annoying, and difficult to do. It is never ever accurate. Why? Because of numbers from systems like these. I put all these efforts into building links for my sites and Google, Yahoo, Bing all decide by some magic number or formula if and when they want to pick them up, and then decide if and when they want those numbers to influence the SERPS. Crazy I tell ya, but thats the job and that’s the industry. They make it a mystery so we cant influence the SERPS the way we want….unless we have tons of money we want to throw at the project (Like hiring a Lobbyist).
Good luck to all other SEO’s out there. I hope we can harness the metrics from this new technology in order to make our jobs and role more prosperous and efficient. I always knew Caffeine would be good for me.
Alexander Conroy is Chief Optimization Officer and Co-President of 
