Google URL shortener, goo.gl making drastic improvements

Did you know that Google has a URL shortener? Just type in goo.gl which uses the top level domain (TLD) for the country of Greenland (as depicted to the left). Google has likely strategically chosen a URL with a non-controversial nation’s TLD unlike URL shortener bit.ly whose url ending in “.ly” which belongs to and is subject to the laws of Libya.

Google has added a variety of new features to their URL shortener making it a tool we might actually begin using over bit.ly. Google Software Engineer Devin Mullins said, “Even as we add features, we continue to focus on making goo.gl one of the fastest and most reliable URL shorteners on the web. We’ll continue working hard to ensure that we add minimal latency to the user experience and extend our track record of rock-solid reliability—we’ve had no service outages since we launched last September.”

New features include:

1. Easily copy shortened URLs to the clipboard with one click. This used to be fairly cumbersome to highlight, copy and paste.
2. You can remove links from your dashboard so only the links you care to track are visible.
3. You can still see analytics of any goo.gl shortened URL by adding “+” to the end of the URL.
4. Goo.gl added a spam reporting form for when you see a shortened URL using goo.gl that goes to spam.

Google says more is to come, but these dashboard changes, better stability, spam reporting and copying function will likely grab a bit of bit.ly’s marketshare.