Google launches a URL shortener… goo.gl
Web behemoth Google has launched its own URL shortening service – goo.gl. So far, it’s intended for use for tweeting your blog through Feedburner. It makes sense from a Google perspective, as it gives them more information for their store, and the likelihood is that they will also provide that information through Analytics, too, at some point (although that’s merely my suspicion). But the question I’d really like answered is the usual one – what’s Google’s long term goal with this? Google Chrome the browser became Chrome the OS (targeted for very different market segments, of course), but why are Google entering an already crowded market place (bit.ly, Cligs, is.gs (which promises to replace their logo with your face if you pay them a million quid, unless you’re Mick Hucknall), TightURL and the original TinyURL.com spring to mind) with a Google-specific service?
The short term answer’s simple – it’s easier than developing plugins for a dozen different services for FeedBurner so it can post to Twitter. But the long term? Ah, there I imagine a Google waiting round the corner, a large toothy slavering monster with a wallop hidden behind its back.
Tags: Feedburner, goo.gl, Google