Yesterday Google released the latest update to its toolbar and alongside the update came the unveiling of http://goo.gl; the company’s brand new URL shortening service.
Ever since Twitter took off and imposed a 160 character limit on the internet there has been demand for services that can take a full URL and create a short URL that leaves more space for the linker to offer description and opinion. Up until now bit.ly had stepped up to the mark (claiming over 48% of the traffic passing through URL shortening services) but it looks to face some stiff competition from Google.
The most recent update to the Google toolbar adds a small “Share” button which, when clicked, pulls up a dropdown menu offering the users the option to instantly email the page they are currently viewing to a friend, or alternatively link to it on one of a huge (and customisable) range of social networks. When the user selects to share a webpage the Google Toolbar will automatically pass the URL through the Goo.gl shortening service.
At the moment goo.gl is limited to working through the toolbar or through feedburner rather than directly through the website (similar to how http://bit.ly is able to operate) but with the large number of internet users that have the Google Toolbar installed it definitely has the potential to take off.
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