So, Google made their URL shortener goo.gl publicly available and, while some have questioned the need for yet another address shrinking service, most welcome the addition due to its minimal downtime and implicit staying power backed as it is by the search behemoth which, let’s face it, isn’t going anywhere.

I mentioned a while back about the potential for Google to use their shortener for tracking, statistics and finding related content or users. 

If all google products use their own native shortening service then they still have a wealth of data to mine both for strict info purposes but also as a means to improved the functionality of their existing portfolio – most noticeably, search – but is goo.gl really ready for prime time? Goo.gl presents click statistics in a nice, granular format listing referrers, browser, platform and country but does not list shared instances such as tweets a lá bit.ly.

Why switch from bit.ly?

Bit.ly is a great service but doesn’t appear to have moved with the times. I would suggest it needs to update or risk losing users. For example, Friendfeed is virtually dead in the water since its acquisition by Facebook but bit.ly still references the number of shares on the aggregation service as a metric for your links – this is no longer of any real use.

How about Google Buzz? I, and others, often draw parallels between Buzz now and FriendFeed in its hey-day with the former being very much in the plans of Googles social endeavours. It would make far more sense for a link tracker to reference Buzz rather than another service which is going the way of the Dodo.

Integration, integration, integration

How can goo.gl improve? The obvious answer is for it to have integration with other Google services. As stated above, link or mention tracking in Google Buzz would be an obvious place to start; indicating the number of shares with the service, who shared it and providing a link to that share would be very valuable in order to track discussion.

While goo.gl has launched without an API, which may possibily a bit short sighted, there is promise of one being made available which will only appeal to developers and content producers further. The ability to automate shortened URL creation and include statistics directly in your product or site will be a boon. Combine this with the built in creation of QR codes just by adding .qr to the end of the shortened URLs and you are on to a winner. 

Risky Business

The news this week that the Libyan registration service NIC.ly is pulling .ly domains (such as vb.ly) which are considered to break local Sharia law – amongst other reasons – has obviously caused some concern. When you add that it is felt those domains with less that 4 characters should can be given to locals then sites like bit.ly should be concerned.

We may have now seen the update in which NIC.ly say that had vb.ly been a normal URL shortener then it would have been okay but it doesn’t get away from the fact that using .ly is still potentially risky.

If bit.ly were to disappear in this fashion then goo.gl could really benefit but needs to up it’s game and iterate to provide at least some of the functionality offered by it’s rival.

The web is already filled with the recent news that Evan Williams is being replaced by Dick Costolo as CEO of Twitter which could well herald a new era for the self-described news & consumption network. Since his arrival, Costolo has been behind a lot of the current plans to increase revenue and now the target for that new era is to build Twitter into an effective, self sufficient and profitable company.

I suggested last week that those in charge might be too close to the product to really get the best out of the business and it would appear that the powers that be at Twitter feel the same way with Williams now moving on to focus on product strategy leaving Costolo in control of the business side. Costolo has already confirmed that Twitter is not for sale.

Things are changing with the imminent arrival of targeted advertising and promoted accounts but that is no doubt only the beginning; things are bound to go further with the possibility of selling space in #newtwitter’s right hand pane – the web version of prime real estate up for auction.

Advertising

Advertising on Twitter is bound to become a lot more prevalent, invasive and unavoidable so it will be interesting to see if this has an impact on the number of users jumping out to third party clients or, perhaps, leaving the service altogether. The client option may not, however, be an entirely safe haven as the likes of promoted tweets are due to be heading in that direction.

If Twitter is to allow targeted advertising based on who you follow then this must be done carefully and correctly so as to avoid any privacy concerns that may arise. Twitter must strive, at all costs, to avoid any comparisons to the controversial Beacon system employed by Facebook. There may not have been a backlash against #newtwitter, mainly because the new design is a genuine improvement, but you can be assured that any suggestion of improper use of the new possibilities providied by the updated site will cause an uproar.

Questions

The question many will now be asking is: how else can Twitter monetise the service?

Other possibilities could include ‘wrapper ads’ around video media in the right hand pane, a tactic many sites already employ, but it would depend how far they wanted to go. The problem with something like this would be that it removes the immediacy that is inherent in Twitter and so may frustrate users.

Could a ‘freemium‘ model possibly be adopted where users pay a monthly premium for an ad-free version much like that which many forums adopt? While studies may have shown that people would not pay for using Twitter I would suggest that a number could be persuaded to change their minds depending on the amount of advertising they were exposed to and how it impacts their use of the service.

On a daily basis, Twitter continues to become an increasingly important part of online life both from a personal and business perspective and I don’t doubt there are many who would be willing to part with a small monthly premium to use the service without distraction.

Whatever the possible options for successfully monetising the service Twitter must tread very carefully or risk alienating the user base. What is patently obvious, however, is that Twitter must be allowed to spread its wings and fly the nest of original ideals when money didn’t matter.

Image by Teddy