Marking its foray into the URL shortening services’ arena, Google Monday announced the launch of Goo. gl – a new URL shortening service working solely with Google applications, and shortening URLs for Google’s Feedburner and from the Google browser toolbar.

Unlike TinyURL, Bit. ly amd a few other already-operational high-profile shorteners, Goo. gl is not a general-purpose link shrinker which the can access via a standalone site – the service is, in fact, inaccessible directly by users from a browser. Google has, however, said that eventually Goo. gl may be rolled out as a standalone site.

Using Goo. gl, the Google Feedburner and its RSS service can now create shortened URLs which can link to the source content while using fewer characters. This is particularly beneficial for users who share on places like Twitter, with has specific size limits.

Going by an official explanation, “Google URL Shortener at goo. gl is a service that takes long URLs and squeezes them into fewer characters to make a link that is easier to share, tweet, or email to friends.”

Talking about the introduction of Goo. gl on its official blog, Google said that its shortening service is fast as well as stable. In addition, the company has also ensured the inclusion of the same security measures that it undertakes for its search index, for blocking pages that may potentially enclose malware or phishing schemes.