URL-shortening services are plentiful these days, but they're not all equal. There are a few key features we're looking for in our ideal URL-shrinker. We want a bookmarklet, to avoid needless copy-pasting. We want a short base URL for easy Twittering. There's also the ability to custom-name your URLs, so you can tell them apart and they make sense to the people you're sending to. Bit.ly has all of this and more. Bookmarklet? Check. Short base URL? Check. The only shorter one we've seen is is.gd. Custom naming? Sure thing. But the real kicker is Bit.ly's unique feature: it tracks how many clicks your link gets, and shows you the referrers those clicks are coming from. If someone else has made a different Bit.ly address for that same URL, you can see that, too. Don't be surprised if you see more and more Bit.ly links popping up soon, it might be the best out there right now.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-15-2008 @ 10:29AM
Ingoal said...
Well, another shorter one is zz.gd...it is still in beta and doesn't have all the feature yet, but there's even a wordpress-plugin for twitter integration (http://zz.gd/e40d6f)...
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7-15-2008 @ 10:49AM
Ricky said...
Doesn't firefox already do this...
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7-15-2008 @ 2:49PM
Tom said...
Firefox is not a short url redirection service.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TinyURL and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_redirection
7-15-2008 @ 11:32AM
Nadiv said...
Would someone explain to me, please, what is the business plan behind all those shortening services? Why so many implement them?
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7-15-2008 @ 2:50PM
Tom said...
Well, check the Example on tinyurl.com for a really really good demonstration of how they can be handy. Also, some urls break in links because they have their own weird characters, or are just too darn long to fit on the page, so using a tinyurl (or other shortener) is nice.
This article is about bit.ly, one of a few services that, in addition to providing url shortening, also provide a way to track clicks. That's useful.
7-15-2008 @ 4:57PM
Paul Nicholson said...
A friend of mine developed another system like this a while ago. urlzen.com
Nice feature to have.
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8-31-2008 @ 9:36PM
Rob said...
If I can I’d like to plug the URL shortener service my website runs, urlShort at http://u.mavrev.com
Currently it offers a simple API for creation via a URL request, a bookmarklet, and the web form with more on the way.
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