Google punts url shortener to world+dog

Standalone goo.gl

By Cade Metz in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 1st October 2010 03:00 GMT

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Google is now offering its url shortener to world+dog.

Dubbed Goo.gl, the service was previously available only with certain other Google services, including the Google browser toolbar, FeedBurner RSS service, News, Blogger, and Maps. But it now has its own website – http://goo.gl/ – where it can be used all by itself.

Google says its url shorter is all about "stability," "security," and "speed." "Google needed a url shortener for its own products where we knew the shortener wouldn’t go away. We also wanted a shortener that we knew would do things the right way... and that would be fast, stable, and secure," says uber Googler Matt Cutts. The "right way" includes permanent redirects.

From the new goo.gl site, you can not only short urls, but monitor traffic to your urls after you shorten them. Google provides top referrers for each link as well as visitor profiles. "This can be a great way to better understand who’s interested in your links, how they’re finding them and when they’re reading," the company says. ®

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