Should You Use Google's and Facebook’s URL Shortening Services?

There has been some (rather high profile!) discussion on the web recently about Google and Facebook’s decisions to introduce their proprietary URL shortening services, and the impact that might have on services from smaller companies. It seems like a clear-cut case of the big guy stomping out competition in the marketplace by virtue of their reputation and brand ... but is that really all there is to it? More importantly, if you are a website owner who needs a URL shortening service, should you use one of the Google/Facebook behemoths, or should you look further afield to find a service that is right for you?

Most importantly ... Google’s product is limited

The most important thing ot remember about Google’s URL shortening service is that it is only available when you are sharing URLs directly from within the Google toolbar or through Feedburner. You can’t use the same short URL for all your Tweets, for your print advertising, for your SMS marketing, and so on. You can only use it for sharing things through Google Toolbar or Feedburner.

Facebook’s URL shortener ... only for Facebook Pages

If you actively promote your business through Facebook (and many people do!), then the Facebook automatic URL shortening will be a plus for you. Unfortunately, in some ways, you don’t get to choose whether you use the Facebook URL shortening service ... if you share something through the site, it automatically does it for you. Of course, you can use any proprietary service as an alternative short URL.

For your own web pages ... go proprietary!

There are all sorts of arguments for and against using both large companies and big brands, and using smaller companies and less well-known brands. We tend to find that small companies are better at customer service, have more innovative features, are more likely to be free as opposed to requiring payment, etc. Another good reason for you to support smaller business when it comes to URL shortening is the idea of karma ... you are most likely a small or medium sized business, and you want customers to approach you rather than your big brand competitors. Why don’t you take your own advice?