Missed opportunity with Google’s URL Shortener
Web AddiCT(s); love Google not only for their stability, speed and perceived security but for the nice AdSense Cheques we get ever so often too. Google have just jumped into the URL shortening service business with the Goo.gl URL shortner giving them access to a shit load of data when the service eventually picks up. Can you really call URL shortening a business? Where’s the revenue? 🙂 I believe Google has missed an opportunity with the release of the Goo.gl shortener and here is why…
2 of my favourite URL shortners at this point in time is http://bit.ly for its ability to track the clicks on the shortened URLs as depicted below.
My other most often used URL shortener is http://is.gd. Why? The firefox extension. Wherever I am on the web with the is.gd Firefox extension installed you are able to right click a page or link to shorten the URL. It immediately copies the shortened URL to your clipboard and all you need to do in your Twitter app (feedalizr, Tweetdeck, Seesmic) is paste (Ctrl-V windows, Command-V Apple).
The Google URL shortening service is available in Feedburner and the Google Toolbar. When trying to install the Google Toolbar in Google Chrome I get the following message:
We’re sorry, but Google Toolbar is only available for Internet Explorer and Firefox.
This is where I believe Google have missed an opportunity with the Google URL Shortener. Why not build the service into Google Chrome similar to the is.gd Firefox extension? They clearly have lots of time and money on their hands with the Google Chrome billboards and newspaper ads all over the UK.