14 DAY TRIAL // Bit.ly is launching what is a way the antithesis of its product, a way for bundling multiple links and sharing them via the same short link. That short link will direct users to a Bit.ly landing page which will display excerpts of the pages and even image previews, but will not redirect users to any of the bundled links.
"We are thrilled to announce the launch of bit.ly bundles, a new way of sharing multiple links with a single bit.ly short URL," Bit.ly announced.
"You can start bundling links right away! Just head over to bit.ly, shorten some links and then hit the 'Bundle' button," the announcement added.
"Every link you add to a bundle will include a rich media preview (courtesy of our friends at embed.ly) and a bit.ly click count, and can be customized with a title and description. Try it out with your favorite video, photo, and any other links you’d like to curate and share!," it continued.
The whole idea behind short links is to have a way of directing users to the page you want by using a simple and short URL which can fit into a tweet.
The ideal URL shortener provides a seamless path for the visitor and doesn't get in the way, clicking on the link should lead you to the desired page.
The new bundle feature doesn't work like that. Clicking on a Bit.ly bundled link leads you to a Bit.ly landing page. This page displays the links in the bundle and provides the title and a preview of all of them. The users can then choose to visit any of the links or none.
There are also stats for each individual link and for the bundle as a whole. This makes it easy to see which links prove popular and which don't.
The bundle feature does provide an interesting option for some very specific use-cases and it's good to see that Bit.ly is diversifying its product.