Both Google and Facebook revealed today, to the shock and titillation of many online observers, that they are now offering their own url shortening services. Goo.gl and Fb.me respectively will be used for Google products and on Facebook to shorten links. Fb.me is already being seeing on Twitter.
Bit.ly has responded by unveiling their Pro service today, which is already in beta for many larger online publishers such as the Huffington Post, The New York imes, The Onion, TechCrunch, to name a few. So does Bit.ly have much to worry about now? I think that TechCrunch said it well following their post about Bit.ly being fu.kd, Goo.gl and Fb.me can suck.it.
Bit.ly accounts for one third of the links on Twitter and while fb.me and goo.gl will of course gain some of the market share, I think this will just be as a result of more people using url shorteners rather than because they will stop using bit.ly.
The statistics offered on Bit.ly and now enhanced in the new Pro accounts, leaves bit.ly with very little to worry about from this new competition. Furthermore, both url shorteners are limited to their own platforms, bit.ly integrates easily with many applications. It seems very premature to speak of Bit.ly’s demise, especially when they are gearing up for growth with some of the biggest names in online publishing.
Popularity: 9% [?]
