bit.ly has launched a new URL shortener, j.mp. This new service is identical to bit.ly’s service, but it generates URLs that are two characters shorter. When a URL is shortened with either bit.ly or j.mp it is automatically shortened by the other service and the domain names are interchangeable. That is, http://bit.ly/3yrVGU is the same as http://j.mp/3yrVGU.
URL shorteners are most popular on Twitter, where the imposed 140 character limit almost requires the use of a URL shortener not to go over the limit. While a bit.ly-shortened URL is short enough for most circumstances, there are rare cases when only one or two extra characters are required to get out a full message within the limit. While bit.ly quickly became the most popular URL shortener when Twitter designated it as the official URL shortener for its service, it has been lagging behind services such as tr.im and is.gd in the competition for the shortest URLs. With this new service, bit.ly could potentially be matched by other URL shorteners, but it cannot be beaten because the shortest domain names are three letters long, there are no two or one letter domain names.
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