socialmedian: Five Best URL Shrinkers [Hive Five]

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Clips

Source: Lifehacker

Oct 26, 2008

Summary

When every character counts, the right URL compacting service can mean the difference between saying what you want and desperately trying to fit a coherent thought into a few insufficient words. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite URL shrinking tools, and now we're back with the five most popular answers. Read on for a closer look at the five best URL shrinkers and to vote for the site you like best.

Cli.gs (Current Default Size: 20 characters)

Cli.gs is the most feature-rich URL shortener of the bunch. It combines the click tracking analytics of Bit.ly with the editing capabilities of SnipURL, then rounds it off with a competitive default size. Cli.gs has way more features in its analytics than Bit.ly, including a nice graph of hits, a world map of visitors, referrer stats, blog engine sightings, and even references on sites like Twitter, FriendFeed, or blogs. And—naturally—don't forget to install the Cli.gs bookmarklet if you like it.

Is.gd (Current Default Size: 17 characters)

Is.gd (pronounced "is good") has won over a lot of users by si

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Comments (12)

Djpaisley,

Oct 27, 2008

check out http://www.zi.ma works great for me.

Che Style,

Oct 27, 2008

http://tr.im is great too.

Wickenden,

Oct 27, 2008

I like tr.im.

Rpetty,

Oct 28, 2008

http://bit.ly

Jasongoldberg,

Oct 28, 2008

is there really any difference? or just familiarity?

Rpetty,

Oct 28, 2008

@jasongoldberg I used TinyURL forever, but bit.ly's UI is much better and easier to copy and paste

Adin,

Oct 28, 2008

I use bit.ly and really like the way it feeds into Twitter.

Daisylinbluez,

Oct 28, 2008

I use budurl,like its edit feature and clickstream but the clickstream feature can be updated to include a chart.

Schilke,

Oct 28, 2008

I'm definitely missing http://tweetburner.com/ here - although it targets Twitter and Friendfeed only at the moment (that's what I am using most of the time because it's a perfect match for me).