Google URL Shortener – kurze URLs von Google

Wenn man die Domain http://www.goo.gl aufruft stösst man auf einen scheinbar neuen Dienst von Google.

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 core goals of this service are:

• Stability – ensuring that the service has very good uptime
• Security – protecting users from malware and phishing pages
• Speed – fast resolution of short URLs

Google URL Shortener is currently available for Google products and not for broader consumer use.

The Google privacy policy applies to the Google URL Shortener. Please note that Google may choose to publicly display aggregate and non-personally identifiable statistics about particular shortened links, such as the number of end user clicks.

Leider scheint es bisher noch keine Login Möglichkeit zu geben sich einzuloggen um den Dienst zu testen. Die kurzen URLs für den Dienst scheinen aber, wie Google Blogoscoped zeigt, zu funktionieren: http://goo.gl/fb/GBME

Übrigens, laut Whois gehört die Domain www.goo.gl wirklich Google Inc.

Update: Inzwischen gibt es zu dem Dienst auch einen offiziellen Post im Google Blog, demnach ist der Dienst über Feedburner oder die Google Toolbar verfügbar.

Google URL shortener is not a stand-alone service; you can’t use it to shorten links directly. Currently, Google URL Shortener is only available from the Google Toolbar and FeedBurner. If the service proves useful, we may eventually make it available for a wider audience in the future.
We’re excited about enabling this functionality — try it for Toolbar and FeedBurner!