Bit.ly
Encyclopedia
bitly is a URL shortening
service owned by bitly, Inc., a betaworks company. It is especially popular on microblogging
website Twitter
because it is the default URL shortening service on the website since May 6, 2009, replacing TinyURL
. Several competing services, such as Trim, shut down their services after they found that it was difficult to compete with bit.ly on Twitter. In addition to its main URL shortening service, the website provides tools to view statistics related to users that click on generated links. The company behind bit.ly launched a similar service, but for online videos to determine what videos are the most popular on the web.
Bit.ly announced October 12, 2010 that users can now automatically generate QR Code
s that, when scanned with a mobile QR code reader, automatically direct users to shortened links.
Bit.ly links never expire and cannot be changed once they are created for a site. URLs that are shortened with the bit.ly service use the bit.ly domain, for example "http://bit.ly/6wgJO". However, with the advent of bit.ly Pro, companies can use their own custom domains to generate shortened links; for example, The New York Times
uses "nyti.ms", and Pepsi
uses "pep.si". This allows the company to push brand awareness on services such as twitter, but use the bit.ly engine to generate the shortened URLs and track marketing metrics. On the basis of regular consumer feedback, bit.ly came up with a new product for enterprise named as bit.ly enterprise
Information about any short bit.ly URL "http://bit.ly/x" is available at "http://bit.ly/x+" (that is, the URL with a plus sign appended), for example "http://bit.ly/QtQET+".
This allows users to see and check the long URL before visiting it.
".ly
" is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Libya
. In 2011, the bit.ly address was set to redirect to bitly.com.
URL shortening
URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator may be made substantially shorter in length and still direct to the required page. This is achieved by using an HTTP Redirect on a domain name that is short, which links to the web page that has a long URL...
service owned by bitly, Inc., a betaworks company. It is especially popular on microblogging
Microblogging
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size...
website Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
because it is the default URL shortening service on the website since May 6, 2009, replacing TinyURL
TinyURL
TinyURL is a URL shortening service, a web service that provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs. Kevin Gilbertson, a web developer, launched the service in January 2002 so that he would be able to link directly to newsgroup postings that frequently had long and cumbersome addresses.-...
. Several competing services, such as Trim, shut down their services after they found that it was difficult to compete with bit.ly on Twitter. In addition to its main URL shortening service, the website provides tools to view statistics related to users that click on generated links. The company behind bit.ly launched a similar service, but for online videos to determine what videos are the most popular on the web.
Bit.ly announced October 12, 2010 that users can now automatically generate QR Code
QR Code
A QR code is a type of matrix barcode first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white...
s that, when scanned with a mobile QR code reader, automatically direct users to shortened links.
Bit.ly links never expire and cannot be changed once they are created for a site. URLs that are shortened with the bit.ly service use the bit.ly domain, for example "http://bit.ly/6wgJO". However, with the advent of bit.ly Pro, companies can use their own custom domains to generate shortened links; for example, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
uses "nyti.ms", and Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
uses "pep.si". This allows the company to push brand awareness on services such as twitter, but use the bit.ly engine to generate the shortened URLs and track marketing metrics. On the basis of regular consumer feedback, bit.ly came up with a new product for enterprise named as bit.ly enterprise
Information about any short bit.ly URL "http://bit.ly/x" is available at "http://bit.ly/x+" (that is, the URL with a plus sign appended), for example "http://bit.ly/QtQET+".
This allows users to see and check the long URL before visiting it.
".ly
.ly
.ly is the Internet country code top-level domain for Libya.-Registration:A .ly registration is the process of registering top-level country-code domain name for Libya. The registration is sponsored by the General Post and Telecommunication Company. The .ly domain extension, introduced in 1988, is...
" is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. In 2011, the bit.ly address was set to redirect to bitly.com.