YouTube Debuts youtu.be URL Shortener

Google followed up the debut of its Goo.gl URL shortener last week with youtu.be, a similar service for its YouTube video site, TechCrunch reported.

The good, according to TechCrunch: youtu.be works exclusively with YouTube videos, so it can’t be used by spammers, and because youtu.be uses YouTube video IDs, developers can mine information such as thumbnails and how a video is spreading.

The bad, according to TechCrunch: youtu.be links come out to 27 characters due to incorporating those YouTube video IDs, which are 11 characters long.

In a post on the YouTube Blog, engineering manager Vijay Karunamurthy wrote:

To see this feature in action, use AutoShare to link up your YouTube account to social networks like Twitter and Google Reader.

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber

View Subscription Options

Already a member? Sign in