Ditto Shawn's comments that the Google API servers are .... well ... just flakey these days. I have a home-grown keyword tracker of my own that uses the Google API, and it has been flakier than normal the last week or so - does appear to be some issue on their end. Real useful service - bummer it's not more reliable and faster.
I have no idea to be honest... you might try running your advanced usage script on another server. Everything seems to be working fine when I test it (Yahoo and MSN have always been fine).