Facebook And Google Get Into The Short URL Game

Image via CrunchBase

by Leena Rao

Moments after we heard reports of Facebook’s new URL shortener, Google launched its own service, aptly called goo.gl.

At the moment, its only being used for Google Toolbar and Feedburner. Google just announced the new service as a sharing feature of Toolbar that will let you share a web page directly from Toolbar. The shortener is not a stand alone service and is not available for “broader consumer use.” That is, at least for now. Google assures that its shortener will be stable and secure to help protect users from clicking on malicious sites. And unsurprisingly, Google promises a speedy service for links.

Google’s foray into the URL shortening world isn’t surprising; many platforms are developing their own shorteners in house, such as Digg and Facebook.
Facebook’s new URL shortener is being used for URLs in its mobile interface. It’s unclear if Fb.me will be rolled out to the entire platform.

Facebook And Google Get Into The Short URL Game

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