Goo.gl - Google Launches Its Own URL Shortener

This week might as well go down in history as the one in which URL shorteners by heavy-hitters started rolling in. Facebook and Google announced that they were releasing their own services almost within hours. On the side of Facebook, an app for tweeting while you are browsing the popular network has also been announced. It will be interesting to see what effect this actually has on the current usage of Twitter.

Coming back to Google’ very own URL shortener, it has the inherent weight one associates with such a established company. There is a difference between shortening a URL using a service that crops up out of the blue and that can disappear overnight, and using a service that one knows will not go away all of a sudden. You must know that the role of links shared through such services is not merely informational – actually, promotional elements are always palpable, as it is the case of the ones who are promoting their blogs by sharing posts on Twitter.

There is not a lot to say about how you can use this service, because A) 95 % of us have used a similar service already, and B) The remaining 5 % will have no trouble getting down to it, as “intuitive” is the key word here. Note that for the time being the service is available only for Google products, but I am convinced that its expansion is imminent.

“Google URL Shortener at goo.gl is a service that takes long URLs and squeezes them into fewer characters to make a link that is easier to share, tweet, or email to friends.”

Being able to shorten URLs through a service that one knows is not vanishing overnight is always desirable.

What will happen to services such as Bit.ly now? Is there still a space for them?