Everyone needs to shorten a URL sometimes.
Whether it’s to prevent long URLs wrapping in emails, to hide affiliate links or to make links look neater in newsletters or on web pages, a URL shortening service comes in handy. These are simply tools that take long URLs and reduce them into fewer characters to make a link that is easier to share.
First into the market was TinyURL, a service that we didn’t even know we needed until it suddenly became vital. With tweets set at 140 characters, use of TinyURL went into overdrive as Twitter became more and more popular.
But after a while, TinyURLs weren’t tiny anymore and we started looking elsewhere. A couple of small players hit the market and then an outfit called Bit.ly started offering link shortening with built in click through stats and that was enough for most of us to ditched the competition.
Bit.ly became king of the URL shorteners in May 2009 when Twitter announced they were formally abandoning TinyURL to make Bit.ly their preferred shortening service. This wasn’t much of a surprise, given both Twitter and Bit.ly shared common startup investment partners. But the move meant that links from alternative URL trimmers started throwing errors if used in tweets.
Now Google has jumped into the URL shortening pool, with the launch last month of Goo.gl . At this stage, Goo.gl is only available for use within Google Toolbar and Feedburner, but it’s expected to rollout for general use eventually, complete with full link tracking.
As TechCrunch points out in their post about the service, it’s the link data that will win the war between the URL shorteners. But I have a feeling that if and when Goo.gl rolls out as a stand alone service, Twitter will need to rethink their relationship with Bit.ly.
I discovered their shortener while using FeedBurner. So I thought, Hey, a google branded shortener. Excellent. I’ll switch right now from bit.ly.
Man, was I disappointed to learn what you said: “At this stage, Goo.gl is only available for use within Google Toolbar and Feedburner, but it’s expected to rollout for general use eventually, complete with full link tracking.”
I’m waiting for them to make it public and more useful.
Nathon
SEO Web Design
Globe Runner SEO
Google, needs that? I don´t think so.
I do not understand the purpose of this.
I am using bit.ly right now. I have not yet tried Goo.gl. But, definitely, I will use the service which will be more useful to me. So, will be waiting for Goo.gl to be public then, we;ll have to see.
Good info – I am shocked that Google haven’t done this sooner – there are usually no fly’s on them! I just tried out bit.ly – and it is a useful tool – especially if you are using a Iphone or a similar device – once you’ve put the url’s in and bookmarked them your away!
goo.gl works now. it’s about the same as bitly, in quality. i run the http://ut.ag/ site. it uses the yourls.org package, which is pretty good (stats, api, etc), but i’d really like it if google allowed me to use my own domain…. now *that* would be sweet.