15 December 2009 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter

Google launches custom URL shortener

Google has launched its own URL shortener, allowing users to condense long web addresses into short ones that are better suited for link sharing on microblogging sites such as Twitter.

The Google URL Shortener can be reached at the custom URL goo.gl, though the service is currently limited to the Google Toolbar and Feedburner and not yet available for broader consumer use.

The site states: "Google URL Shortener at goo.gl is a service that takes long URLs and squeezes them into fewer characters to make a link that is easier to share, tweet, or email to friends." The site also explains that the service offers improved stability, security and speed to websites.

The URL shortener was announced in a Google Blog post explained: "People share a lot of links online. This is particularly true as microblogging services such as Twitter have grown in popularity."

Jenna Wortham of The New York Times has called the new Goo.gl service "a direct attack on Bit.ly" - the popular URL shortener developed by Betaworks Studio that has become a standard on sites such as Twitter. However, shortly after Google's announcement on Monday, Bit.ly revealed that it would begin creating custom URLs for a number of major websites and publishers, including The New York Times (at nyti.ms), The Wall Street Journal, The Onion and even Microsoft's search engine Bing.

This has cemented Bit.ly's status as the web's leading URL shortener, ahead of competitors such as Affiliate Window's tidd.ly. It remains to be seen whether Google's continuing dominance of the web at large can extend to the realm of the tiny.