Google’s Accidental Reveal: A New URL Shortener That Wasn’t
Ever feel like you’re getting mixed signals from Google? It seems their own team had a major “whoops” moment recently, giving us all a little peek behind the curtain.
A Glimpse of a New Tool
Roger Montti’s latest report for Search Engine Journal caught something fascinating. For a brief period, it looked like Google was launching a brand-new URL shortener service, specifically for Google Business Profiles. Marketers who remember the old goo.gl service were buzzing. A clean, official short link for a business profile? Yes, please! The official Google help document even laid out the details.
A Swift Reversal
Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. Hours after the news broke, Google scrubbed the information and replaced it with a simple statement: there is no way to shorten your Google Business Profile URL at this time. A Google spokesperson confirmed it was all a mistake.
What This Means for Marketers
So, what does this mean for us in the digital marketing world? Montti wisely points out that this was no small typo; it was a detailed description of a new feature. This tells me a few things. It’s possible this was a feature they were actively working on that got leaked by accident. It could also be a feature they decided to cancel, and an old draft of the documentation was published by mistake.
Either way, it shows that Google is at least thinking about new tools to make managing and promoting Google Business Profiles easier. While this specific tool isn’t happening now, it’s a valuable hint about where their focus might be headed. It’s a classic case of “watch this space,” because a feature that was this close to being announced could always reappear down the road.
The Takeaway
For now, we’re sticking with our current methods, but this little slip-up was certainly an interesting one to watch unfold.
Roger Montti lays out the full timeline with all the screenshots of the changes. I highly recommend you check out his report on the Google URL shortener reversal to see the evidence for yourself.