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Google Unveils goo.gl URL Shortening Service

eldavojohn writes "The Sultan of Search is unveiling a new service (currently only available for Google Toolbar and Feedburner) that will tackle a very old problem usually solved by bit.ly or tinyurl — URL shortening. Now, we've heard cries for sanity to prevent potential issues (like what if tr.im had shut down and broken millions of links?) but with one of the goliaths of the industry jumping in the ring it looks like URL shortening is here to stay. And a quick note for people who enjoy privacy, goo.gl explicitly states: 'Please note that Google may choose to publicly display aggregate and non-personally identifiable statistics about particular shortened links, such as the number of end user clicks.' You didn't think Google was going to sit back and let bit.ly harvest juicy data on 2.1 billion links that were clicked in November without trying to corner some of that action to make their ad suggestions more accurate, did you?" Google's shortening service is called Goo.gl.

10 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Re:You guys missed one tiny, important detail... by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    See? I can also miss one tiny, important detail!

    Oh crap, I hope I don't start writing for Slashdot...

  2. Re:Other services work fine by Bottles · · Score: 5, Funny

    i 4 1 wl b avoiding ths. XStng sRvcs wRk fine & this is 1 mr way goo.gl headed 2wrds Nfo omnisns

    There! Shortened that for you!

  3. Nope, still too long. by VortexCortex · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, will not be satisfied until my URLs are compressed as a super positions of themselves and stored in qubits.

    Perhaps Google can use one of their quantum computers to appease me.

  4. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here's your answer: http://bit.ly/4kb77v

  5. Re:You guys missed one tiny, important detail... by smallfries · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hang on. He only proved that he can't read, we need proof that he can't write either before Slashdot hires him..

    --
    Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
  6. Re:Is this really a problem? by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Long links in twitter messages significantly reduce the amount of available characters.

    Google is really going to look foolish when my new, extensible length twitter service comes out. This new service will allow arbitrary length messages and thus totally eliminate the need to link shortening.

    Although I haven't yet named my new service, I am leaning towards calling it "eMail", but I need to check if that name has already been taken.

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  7. Re:Where there go my business plans by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well you could always start a Nigerian company called bi.ng ?

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  8. Google Gibraltar by Ruvim · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, that's how Google Gibraltar looks like... It's funny how the official meaning of TLD is always totally ignored. Case in point: as many others, White House uses bit.ly for its URL shortening on White House Tweeter posts... never mind that .ly TLD is assigned to Libya.

  9. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rick rolling is nothing compared to that time someone posted a url to the FBI site on Slashdot.

    Url had a GET message confessing to having a hard drive full of CP, and it got modded +5 funny.

  10. Re:Other services work fine by omarius · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Coozy Pumpkins" sounds a hell of a lot worse to me... If that's a euphemism for anything I don't want to know.