It seems to me that google webmaster tools doesn't update it's external links stats on a regular basis, only once in a while...Am I crazy or does it really only update once every few weeks?
It is not happening on a very regular basis, I think every 2-3 weeks. It is independent from the Google Toolbar backlinks update. For example, during the last PR update (about a week ago), the links shown at the Google Toolbar increases significantly, but remained the same at Google Webmaster Tools .
Google takes its own time to update the backlinks and it is not done at regular intervals (may be 2-4 weeks) and the total number of backlinks will be far lower than the one shown by yahoo
Awesome, thanks for your help everyone! I was beginning to lose it cause I've been actively trying to create backlinks for my sites and I have seen the back links out there on popular pages but my external links numbers have been stagnant. Thanks again!
Yeah if you know the links are there, then don't worry about it because it's very likely that Google is already giving you love in search engine results, whether they have updated the webmaster link visibily count or not.