TinyURL et al explode on mobile thanks to Twitter.
Research by Novarra showed page views grew by 1068 per cent to date in 2009, which supports the findings of the firm's Mobile Internet Experience Update, which noted that page views of Twitter grew 3,500 per cent in the first half of 2009.
Tiny URLs and bit.ly links are often used to share online content via Twitter and other micro-blogging services because the shortened web links fit easily into 140 character SMS messages.
The surge in their use shows that links shared in micro-blogs are becoming an increasingly important driver of internet use via mobile and a catalyst for bringing new mobile users online.
Novarra’s data indicates that neither bit.ly or tinyurl.com were in the top 1000 sites accessed on the mobile at the start of 2009, but ranked in the top 200 UK sites accessed last month.
Randy Cavaiani, vice president of marketing at Novarra, said: “The growth in mobile traffic to sites that shorten URLs demonstrates that Twitter is a great viral tool for exposing consumers to new and interesting content. Much of the content shared this way is from ‘long tail’ sites that are personally relevant and important to consumers and their circle of friends.”
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