Are Shortened Links the new ‘Cue Cat’?
If you use Twitter, you sooner or later start bumping up against the 140 character limit, especially if you are in the habit of referring followers to articles you’ve found on the web. By the time this has been an issue, you have probably moved on to a twitter client, like Tweetdeck, that has built in tools – and choice – for shortening URLs, such a Twurl, tr.im and tinyURL.
What these services do is take links and reduce them down to aliases, not unlike hyperlinking in this article with alternate naming.
The difference is that when I alias a link here in this article, you can hover over it and get an idea of where you are going. With link shortening within Twitter – and increasingly the other areas where it can be found around the web – the destination is typically obscured.
Now folks are starting to look at the monetization of link shortening.
Are link shorteners just a tricky way for people to link bait?
Do you remember the Cue Cat? It was a device that was developed and marketed in the late 90’s that paired with codes in magazines so that you could wave the wand and go to a site. It flopped miserably.
Will attempts to monetize shortened links be met with the same fate?
Andy Kesling are discussing. 
Andy Kesling 4:27 pm on May 4, 2009 Permalink |
Short URLs are far more useful than Cue Cat ever could have been. Cue Cat required you to purchase a single-purpose device to read bar codes in newspapers and magazines that pointed the reader to specific websites. You had to find your Cue Cat to benefit from it. If you were reading a publication in one part of your house and the Cat was elsewhere, the benefit was minimized. Reading a publication at the dentist’s office and want to use the Cat? Oh, it’s at home.
In truth, short URLs would have been far more useful (and much less expensive) than the Cue Cat.
Even today, short URLs could benefit newspaper and magazine advertisers who want to gain direct response data on ad placements and drive specific value for those individuals who key in the short addresses that can point to a unique landing page with a unique offer. It’s a great idea to pursue.
Dave Hendricks 4:38 pm on May 4, 2009 Permalink |
I agree wholeheartedly Andy. When I am reading a newspaper and I have my blackberry in my hand, I often want to post a link on Twitter or refer a friend to the article. If magazines and newspapers used a link shortening approach, I could do that without being online.
Plus it’s a great way to bookmark offline content for future reference.
Thanks for the comment!