Bit.ly hits back at Google with new service

URL shortening service bit.ly has responded to Google's entrance into the market yesterday by launching in beta a new advanced private label service for publishers and bloggers.

Bit.ly Pro is already being made available to firms such as AOL, Bing, The Daily Telegraph and The New York Times, who are then able to use their own customised short URLs to point users to pages on their sites, according to a bit.ly blog posting.

"Users and publishers benefit from the additional transparency that this private-label service provides," the blog noted. "When you see a short URL like nyti.ms, you know the destination web site before clicking on the link."

The new service will allow publishers to "keep their brand visible while maintaining access to bit.ly statistics", the firm said. Subscribers to bit.ly Pro will get access to a new real-time dashboard providing information about bit.ly traffic, and how their content is being distributed across various social networks and other channels.

In addition, placing a "+" symbol after a bit.ly link will take the user to real-time info about that page, just as it does in the traditional version of the service.