Over all they have been able to secure a very short domain name which is the first achievement in this task this was a major blow to tinyurl.com when bit.ly because bit.ly had five …

" />

oo.ki url shortening service by two Pakistanis

June 30, 2010 1:51 am 10 comments

Share this Article

Author:

image Ever since the dawn of twitter url shortening service has been a rage, first major player was http://tinyurl.com which operated as back as 2002 then http://bit.ly followed and was also funded a hefty $2 million once it gained momentum. Over the years we have seen much activity in this area.

Recently I came across http://oo.ki a service launched by two Pakistanis and , which seems to have the basics covered plus a few nifty features.

Over all they have been able to secure a very short domain name which is the first achievement in this task this was a major blow to tinyurl.com when bit.ly because bit.ly had five characters less than tinyurl.com a major number if you have some tweeting experience.

Besides the basic url shortening service they have few useful features

Ability to add custom url so if i want to have a shortened url as per my own wish i would be able to do that so lets say i want to have a shorter url for this review I generated http://oo.ki/ooki_review

Password protection you could generate a url and password protect it, if you need to share it with specific people only you can use the password, i am not sure how practical this is but a feature none the less.

Similarly you can make your shortened url expire after some time or after a number of usages (so it should disappear lets say after first 5 people visit it) useful if you are having a contest.

Also they have provided APIs which would enable third parties to use this.

Over all they have thought through every thing and covered all areas how ever I don’t know if independent url services have a long term business value because all major services have started their own shortening service mostly because it gives them more control of their content and userbase.

twitter launched t.co, facebook has fb.me, google got goo.gl, stumble upon has su.pr. Because these major players have their own services the ultimate battle becomes of what the third party clients (tweetdeck, seesmic etc) and services use as a preference and they do have some choices around in August 2008 there were 90+ url shortening services what is the situation now is any one’s guess.

I wish these two people best of luck in their endeavors hope they make it big.

Facebook comments:

10 Comments

  • http://j.mp is even shorter though not owned by Pakistanis :)

    There is a very nifty feature of j.mp; when you have visited a site that you want to shorten the URL of, say, http://www.thejaywalker.net, you can just type “j.mp/” in your browser’s address bar “before” http://www.thejaywalker.net, so it becomes:

    j.mp/http://www.thejaywalker.net

    Just press Enter and bingo!

    Note: j.mp is owned by bit.ly—even existing URL shortening services can purchase a shorter domain and redirect to their main site.

  • Thank you for writing the review on our website. A little part you missed about the API is that you can even use it in the most widely used Twitter App “TweetDeck”.

    Goto Settings -> Services -> Select the service you wish to use for shortening URLs. …. Simply put the following line there, and TweetDeck will automatically shorten your URLs using http://oo.ki

    http://oo.ki/index.php?api=1&return_url_text=1&longUrl=%@

    Secondly I would like to tell that http://oo.ki has started two other domains too. http://short.as and http://nbold.com

    You can also view the statistics of your shortened URL by simply putting the ! (exclaimation) sign at the end of your shortened URL, for example, http://oo.ki/ooki_review!

    Thanks Alot!

  • Hello there I am so glad I found your blog, I really found
    you by error, while I was browsing on Askjeeve for something else, Anyhow
    I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a incredible post and a all round enjoyable blog (I
    also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to browse
    it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added in your
    RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do
    keep up the excellent job.

  • What a information of un-ambiguity and preserveness of precious
    knowledge about unexpected feelings.

  • I used to be recommended this website by means of my cousin. I’m no longer certain whether this put up is written by him as nobody else
    recognize such special approximately my difficulty. You’re incredible!
    Thanks!

  • Hi there! This post couldn’t be written much
    better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He always kept preaching about this. I most certainly will send this post to him.
    Pretty sure he’ll have a great read. Many thanks for sharing!

  • I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also visit
    this blog on regular basis to take updated from hottest information.

  • 1st off i consider its amazing the way you guys share your
    valuable expertise with everybody. Quite selfless.

  • If you are going for most excellent contents like me, simply pay a quick visit this website everyday for the reason that it presents feature contents, thanks

  • Hi there I am so glad I found your blog, I really found you by mistake, while I was browsing on Google
    for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a
    tremendous post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the
    theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it
    all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also
    included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read
    a great deal more, Please do keep up the fantastic b.

Recent Posts

  • Events General Mobile Apps Container Run a continuation of politically motivated apps

    Container Run a continuation of politically motivated apps

    First we had Angry Imran which brought smiles and some short lived fun for us during the election campaign. Then came Gullu Butt following the incident of Model Town Lahore, which stayed on top of charts (Pakistan play store) for quite some while. Also Gullu Butt made an update with having the famous “Aam Khaiyga” quote form Aamir Liaqat in which a character resembling Aamir Liaqt throws mangoes and the Gullu Butt character tries to catch them. Gullu butt currently has more than 100,000 Installs

    And now during this extremely politically tense situation which had the whole nation on its toes on 14th August we have another app continuing the …

    Read more →
  • Announcements Featured Startup General Meritaleem.com aims to help student make better decision regarding their future.

    Meritaleem.com aims to help student make better decision regarding their future.

    MeriTaleem.com aims to solve an age old problem for our students, where to go next?

    If you have just completed your primary school which college to pick, if you have completed your college which university to pick. There has always been lack of information or rather consolidated information regarding these questions. The best source till now has always been relatives and friends (mostly of your parents). So some uncle did CA and made a good living you should talk to him and decide, or daughter of my sister completed her medical and is practicing follow that career.

    The fact that online presence of our existing universities are limited and not …

    Read more →
  • General Mobile Apps Eccentria Technologies launches an app which shoots to the top of the charts

    Eccentria Technologies launches an app which shoots to the top of the charts

    Whoa!! this was quick so Eccentia technologies launched an app a few days ago called “Ajj Kia Pakaen” or what to cook today and today it has reached the top of charts for Pakistani Stores on iTunes and google play store.

    “Ajj Kia Pakaen” is the most common question asked at every house hold in the morning. The ladies of the family have a hard time deciding what to cook for the day. The app has a fun interface and is simple to use, you fire it up, and it gives you an option of what to cook for the day, if you like the option you can check the …

    Read more →
  • Coffee Session General Marketing/Adv

     

    Until a few years back we used to have closed groups and forums, which gathered the like minded people and anyone targeting the online audience would tap into that forum and market his/her services. So PakGamers , PakPassion initially even PakWheels used to be driven by members talking about what they loved, people used to create marketing and sales opportunities from within those discussions (so you could get a good router cheap or a gaming PC etc).
    The advent of facebook changed all that, most of the forum goers moved to the new social media. It also made a very attractive market place for some one who does not …

  • General Getting back

    Getting back

    I  have been out of blogging for a long long long time, a lot of things happening on personal front (including a little startup I have ben doing my self). However during my absence I met a lot of people who had followed GreenWhite at its peak, read the articles regularly.

    I had hope there would be some one else who would come ahead and cover everything going on and around us in the local tech world. There are some guys doing a great job, but for some reason I still could not find one source where I can go and read about everything, so my routine usually is to …

    Read more →
  • General Mobile Apps Software & I.T.

    GeniTeam launches official app for Pakistan Idol

    GeniITeam has successfully launched an official app for PakistanIdol. This is one of the first collaboration between a reality game show and a local app development company. I am sure a lot more would follow. Previously we have seen seenreport becoming the basis of mostly all channels citizen reporting system (Like Geo Dost). This is a healthy sign and with the advent of 3G round the corner it should become a business generator for our local firms.

    App allows you to follow the contestants that you like, promote them, comment on live feedback on an episode. It offers official content from the show since it is developed with partnership with …

    Read more →
  • General 10Pearls and National Geographic Release A Geography Challenge App

    10Pearls and National Geographic Release A Geography Challenge App

    10Pearls, one of the leading Pakistani IT companies, has recently added another feather to its cap. This time, in partnership with National Geographic, 10Pearls has released the new and improved GeoBee Challenge App – an interactive app to challenge and grow the geographic knowledge of the users.

    Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The competition is designed to encourage geography in the classroom, ignite student interest in the world around them, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge. Now …

    Read more →
  • General 10Pearls Spins Off Game Plan8

    10Pearls Spins Off Game Plan8

    It’s heartening to see that Pakistani IT companies have now started to diversify themselves into non traditional areas, and are competing with global players in areas such as gaming. We have received information that 10Pearls, one of the leading  mobile and enterprise web development services companies in Pakistan, has spun-off a separate entity focused solely on developing and publishing casual mobile games.  The new entity, Game Plan8, will focus on creating 2D and 3D games for the iOS, Google Android, Kindle, Facebook and other platforms. Details can be seen on the company’s official press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/12/prweb11428177.htm

     …

    Read more →
  • General Telecom CCP Gives Guidelines Against Telecom Companies’ Deceptive Marketing

    CCP Gives Guidelines Against Telecom Companies’ Deceptive Marketing

    If only were there two things when it comes to the law, firstly the fear of breaking it and by passing the legal authority, and secondly, implementation of the law given full dedication, there would have been less competency and dishonesty in business and society. However, keeping good faith, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has put forward “Deceptive Marketing Guidelines” which will maintain the Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010. In order to enforce this part of the law and stop anti-competitive conduct on part of the telecom companies in advertising, the guidelines have been shared with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and other concerned telecommunication sector members, in …

    Read more →