Bit.ly: Analytics Service Disguised as URL Compressor, Part Deux
This week, Bit.ly became the in-house URL compressor for Twitter, Marshall Kirkpatrick reports at ReadWriteWeb. We wrote a few weeks ago that we love Bit.ly for the rich tracking and analytics it provides – apparently, we’re not alone.
Kirkpatrick quotes James Governor: “The truth about Bit.ly is that it’s not a URL shortener, it’s a trend management and metrics platform.” Too right you are, Mr. Governor.
Around the time last wrote about Bit.ly – beginning of April – its links attracted 15 million clicks per week. Five weeks later, Bit.ly is seeing 50 million clicks per week. Becoming the incumbent URL compressor for Twitter is only going to accelerate that growth – a trend we’re looking forward to. As Bit.ly links – and attendant analytical capabilities – proliferate, how content is distributed throughout the ecosystem will become increasingly measurable and targetable, a prospect that makes our mouths water.
We only hope that the Libyan government (which owns the .ly country code Top-Level Domain) does not impede Bit.ly’s growth. Libyan regulations currently stipulate that,
Domain names must not contain obscene, scandalous, indecent, or contrary to Libyan law or Islamic morality words, phrases nor abbreviations.
While the Bit.ly domain seems to adhere to the current regulations, we hope that the country’s regulators do not decide to extend these prohibitions to the links that bit.ly compresses.
