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Google URL Shortener Opened To the Public

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-can-do-that-too dept.

Anonymusing writes "Just what the world needs, another URL shortener, right? Google seems to think so, and it's making its own widely available to anyone — complete with tracking and statistics — for free. As noted on its blog: 'There are many shorteners out there with great features, so some people may wonder whether the world really needs yet another. As we said late last year, we built goo.gl with a focus on quality. With goo.gl, every time you shorten a URL, you know it will work, it will work fast, and it will keep working. You also know that 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.' Is bit.ly shaking in its boots?"

10 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Chop off two letters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    g.gl, get to it google engineers. Short as hell.

  2. Unique feature by RichardDeVries · · Score: 3, Funny

    goo.gl shortens goo.gl url's as well! No, I will not write an evil script. Someone has to do the 'No Evil', right?

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    Error 001
    Security Scan and Virus Detection do not work with your operating system.
  3. Testing the goo.gl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    As a test I created a link to this slashdot article. I will post the statistics after a day. http://goo.gl/Kjyl

  4. Do not want by Yvan256 · · Score: 1, Funny

    The last thing the world need is yet another semisolid fat for food preparation.

    Wait, what's the subject again?

  5. Re:complete with tracking and statistics by pitchpipe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Am I doing this right? http://goo.gl/

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    Look where all this talking got us, baby.
  6. the good shortened URLs are already gone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wrote a script that would keep re-submitting my URL until I ended up with goo.gl/R2D2, but found out it was already used. I think I'll make a mosaic of the 23,864 QR barcodes on the side of a building somewhere as a social commentary.

  7. Re:So, who's going to be the 1st to shorten goatse by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Funny
    Congrats. Your work?

    It would be interesting to test all the 4-letter/number combos and see what the distribution of content is. A simple test with a common 4-letter word shows that they're censoring words from the url shortening pool.

    BTW cr4p brings you to facebook - how appropriate.

  8. Re:complete with tracking and statistics by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny

    The best one? try cr4p - it links to Facebook. Easy to remember, and pretty descriptive.

  9. Re:complete with tracking and statistics by HybridST · · Score: 5, Funny

    I got a rock...

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    Ever notice that Cobra Commander sounds an awful lot like Star scream?
  10. Re:goo.gl/page by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1, Funny

    I tried http://goo.gl/zmsm , and got someone's MSN mail box. Weird.