The first generation of URL shorteners were revolutionary. Very simple ... but a massive step forward from the complete broken email links, horrible-looking URLs and inability to share Google Maps listings on Twitter! URL shorteners have progressed far past that simple random conversion-and-redirect stage, though. New generation short URL services are offering more features than ever before ... here's what you can expect from some of the most cutting edge shorteners!
Revenue earning potential!
That right ... you can actually earn cash when your friends, family, and the web at large clicks on your shared links made with URL shortening service ity.im - as in 'I am itty ... itty bitty!'. It's a world-first concept and set to be a very easy way for people to earn money on the new web; http://ity.im is also offering cash for referring friends that become members of the site, winning weekly contests and hosting the site's ads on your own website.
Traffic statistics
This idea was a revolution when tinyurl first introduced it a year or two ago. Now it is commonplace - you can't have a URL shortening service without having traffic statistics associated with the links it creates.
Preview services
Some URL shorteners also have inbuilt URL un-shorteners in them - very useful considering the amount of spam that is now shared via short URLs which can hide the dodgy domain names which would otherwise remain unlicked.
Polls, surveys and feedback
Here new short URL service http://ity.im takes another bow - it allows you to add module to your site to conduct surveys, mini-polls and elicit user feedback.
Personalized shortening
Some short URL services let you choose your own code - doiop is an example, and there are several others than do this as well. This means you get the benefit of a short domain, removal of parameters and session IDs, and also a more memorable URL. Some shortening services simply pay attention to the sequence of consonants and vowels within the URL to mean that you can 'pronounce' the address, even if it is gibberish. MemURL does this.
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