err0r Posted October 2, 2010 Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 Before Twitter blew up and everyone started thinking in 140 characters, no one really cared about having long URLs. With Twitter users scrambling to solve the 140-character puzzle, URL shortening sites like Bit.ly, TinyURL, and Ow.ly have grown increasingly popular. Google on Thursday jumped into the game and announced its own URL shortening site, Goo.gl. The Google URL shortener was actually introduced last December as part of Google Toolbar and Feedburner. Since then, the service has been integrated into Google News, Blogger, Google Maps, Picasa Web Albums, and Google Moderator. But until now, there was no standalone Google site to shorten a URL. But why bother with Goo.gl when there are already other sites you can use? According to Google's Social Web Blog, "when you click a goo.gl shortened URL, you're protected against malware, phishing and spam using the same industry-leading technology we use in search and other products." Like many of the URL shortening sites, goo.gl is pretty basic. However, it does have some nice URL-tracking features. For example, when you sign into your Google account, you can see a list or URLs that you've shortened. You can then view public, real-time analytics data, including traffic over time, top referrers, traffic sources, and visitor profiles for countries, browsers, and platforms. Also, according to Mashable, there's a hidden Easter egg in Goo.gl. "Earlier today, Google engineer Matt Cutts tweeted ... add .qr to a shortened goo.gl URL and you'll create a QR code that, when scanned, will redirect to the original URL. It's a quirky additive that makes goo.gl all the more friendly for brands and marketers experimenting with QR codes. A Twitter tipster also informed us that you can add .info to the goo.gl URL to check out analytics," Mashable said. Source: Jennifer Bergen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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