Google’s URL shortener just opened up to the public, with a standalone site. Launched last December, Google’s Bit.ly competitor, Goo.gl can now be used for any links on the web. And Google promises that the shortener is the “stablest, most secure, and fastest URL shortener on the web.” From the blog post: There are many shorteners out there with great features, so some people may wonder whether the world really needs yet another. As we said late last year, we built goo.gl with a focus on quality. With goo.gl, every time you shorten a URL, you know it will work, it will work fast, and it will keep working. You also know that when you click a goo.gl shortened URL, you’re protected against malware, phishing and spam using the same industry-leading technology we use in search and other products. Since our initial release, we’ve continued to invest in the core quality of the service: Stability: We’ve had near 100% uptime since our initial launch, and we’ve worked behind the scenes to make goo.gl even stabler and more robust. Security: We’ve added automatic spam detection based on the same type of filtering technology we use in Gmail. Speed: We’ve more than doubled our speed in just over nine months. The new URL shortener also comes with a host of interesting features. For example, if you sign-in to your Google Account, you’ll can access a list of URLs you’ve shortened in the past. And you can see the details the “details” link next to any of shortened URL, where you will find public, real-time analytics data, including traffic over time, top referrers, and visitor profiles. There’s no API available…yet. But Goo.gl is available via extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Google says an upcoming API can be used to shorten URLs, expand URLs, and view analytics from directly within your own applications. 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7Authors: Leena Rao