Are Bit.ly Clicks Unique or Actual Clicks?

If you’re looking at analytics provided by bit.ly links (just ad + at end end of the short URL to view the stats) are those clicks listed as unique clicks or actual?

The click stats provided by bit.ly are actual clicks. The only time it work on a unique clicks basis is when the user is signed into bit.ly and clicks the link.

Why doesn’t bit.ly show unique clicks?

It would need cookie data in order to do so:

“For example, many people want to distinguish between total clicks on bitly links and total unique users – a distinction we can’t make without cookie data.”

Keep the above in mind if you’re paying for a cost-per-click ad deal and using bit.ly for the tracking mechanism.