URL shortening services have become an integral part of online communications. Shortened URLs not only take less space (which is important for services like Twitter, Facebook and Digg that restrict message length, and for use on mobile devices), they are also easier to remember and easier to verbalize. So it is no surprise that the number and use of shortening services has grown exponentially over the last few years.

The newest entry to the space is also the shortest and arguably the easiest to remember, too:  X.CO, the free URL shortener from GoDaddy.com.  This brand-spanking-new service just launched and is now the shortest of the shorteners.  There will likely never be a shorter url shortening service – so Go Daddy has once again just raised the bar (or lowered it -- depending on your POV!) for others to follow.

Naturally we’re super excited for X.CO! 

Why?  First, URL shorteners are a perfect application for .CO domains.  Given that .CO is one character shorter than .com, .net, .org, and .biz, and two characters shorter than .mobi and .info -- shorteners are a natural extension of one of our key value propositions; that is -- when it comes to domain names -- "less (characters) is more."

Second, Go Daddy has more than 8 million customers and 43 million domains under management.  If only a fraction of them use X.CO as their URL shortener, it’s going to generate tremendous exposure for .CO through content and link sharing -- and will likely drive more awareness, interest and sales of .CO domains for GoDaddy.com – which will help to spread the good word about the .CO TLD around the world.  It's a beautiful thing all around!

Third, GoDaddy.com is one of our valued core registrar partners -- so their success is our success.  We couldn't be prouder to have Go Daddy launch their URL shortener on a .CO domain. 

The final question is, does the Internet really need another URL shortener? There are dozens available, with new ones being created every day - certainly there are some good ones out there, right?  Absolutely!  We would be remiss if we didn’t give a nod to those who came before X.CO. 

But with X.CO, today’s savvy, connected consumer has a new choice to make.  From a features standpoint, X.CO offers everything that other URL shorteners offer, like robust analytics and tracking, vanity URLs, and more – but X.CO is backed by the technical stability and support of Go Daddy, one of the most trusted, respected and well known Internet brands in the world.  X.CO is just a baby right now.  But you can rest assured that it will evolve quickly as it grows up - and will stay on the cutting edge of technology to deliver the most innovative features and benefits for your personal and business use.   After all, that’s what Go Daddy does best!

To learn more about X.CO, go to: http://x.co/whatisxco

And don't wait too long before you start using X.CO!  Remember - the vanity url service means that you will want to make sure to secure the keyword links for the content you care most about!  For example, I just scored:  http://x.co/dotco to link to our global site -- and http://x.co/puntoco to link to our site in Colombia.  Oh and of course, http://x.co/lori -- because people like you and me need vanity URLs too! : )

In today’s online world, where every character counts, shorter is always sweeter.  And it doesn’t get any shorter or sweeter than X.CO. 

As with all things, when Go Daddy does something -- it does it the right way.  Even when they go small, Go Daddy does it big! 

Welcome to X.CO - and a new era in URL Shorteners!