Gilby might be interested in this. url(x) is a new service similar to tinyurl but with a neat feature to include the domain name in the generated URL so that people can choose not to click on links that take them to sites they don’t want to visit.
url(x) was featured on digg.com.
Yeah, I saw it. There are hundreds of clones out there now, and TinyURL 2.0 is in the works. The trick to adding new features though is to prevent it from being too complicated for the typical user.
That feature on that site of adding the domain to the URL I think is not as good as the preview URL feature, as if someone wants to hide where it’s going, they would just not use that feature.
oooooh, Gilby’s got competition…that url(x) one is pretty sweet though.
Making it easy to use and fast is often the tricky part. Lots of software never makes it because the UI and user experience is all messed up even though the unerlying idea and technology are all good.
I participate in some security newsgroups where people don’t like tinyurl links because they can’t see what site it’s going to until it is too late. It would be too easy to hide a CAYS (click and you’re screwed) link in a tinyurl. So I post a long link that will get broken by my news reader and a tinyurl link for those that aren’t as paranoid.
With a dumb domain name. The domain doesn’t convey what the site does and what the link does. A geeky name like url(x) makes sense to geeks but everyone else will not get it.
And it makes the short domain longer. Almost useless for domains like llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk
http://urlx.org/llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk/8314
or
http://tinyurl.com/3snk8
The security guys run into problems? They should be using a better browser and have the preview feature set if its a common issue for them.
Branding is huge! It’s probably my most valuable asset.