Google has had its own URL shortener for some time. It just didn't make it available for general use. It was always attached to various Google products. That changes now, as Google has given it is own site at goo.gl . It's called simply, Google URL Shortener. "We dont intend to overload goo.gl with features, but we do want it to be the stablest, most secure, and fastest URL shortener on the web," says Google software engineer Muthu Muthusrinivasan.