For publishers the service looks very cool, it includes features we haven't seen anywhere else and offers access to the huge Stumble audience.

• Real time analytics showing how many people click through your links, how many came via StumbleUpon in particular and who the most prolific "reTweeters" have been.


• Easy publishing to Twitter and Facebook, including the ability to schedule those links and messages to be pushed out at a particular time.


• "Suggested posting time" metrics, based on historical data concerning when people are most likely to click through your links.


• A handy bookmarklet that makes submission of links quick and easy.

It's interesting to note that Stumble's business model is based on publishers paying 5 cents per visitor to have pages inserted into relevant Stumble streams already. Now publishers are being encouraged not only to put their pages into Stumble for free, but are also aggressively prompted to write their own reviews of pages.

What's Not So Super

Other possible critiques of Su.pr include that the framed pages aren't pretty in mobile displays (the frame is clunky and the obscured destination URL is a bummer) and there hasn't been a Su.pr API announced, something that competitors like Bit.ly, Cli.gs and Tr.im all offer.

Stumble says they are using the right kind of redirect to keep search juice on the page that's being linked to, (Update: SearchEngineLand's Danny Sullivan says this is not true) but we're not sure what Su.pr will do to third party analytics services like Google's. We also question whether the "clicks" are really clicks on Su.pr; just like all URL shorteners have happen, Su.pr links are sometimes "opened" by browser extensions that peak at the full URL without readers actually clicking on them. For example, the service reported 5 clickthroughs on one of our links just 5 seconds after we sent it to Twitter. That's possible but doesn't seem terribly likely. It's a hard problem to solve and one that is much more important for publishers with tech-savvy browser extension using audiences than it is for the vast majority of the world. In tech publishing, it's not uncommon for other URL shortening services to report 1k clicks when internal analytics have only seen 700, for example.

Su.pr encourages publishers throughout its interface to promote their own content, a reality of the web publishing world that brings with it some ethical questions. The company has always flirted with these questions by serving up paid content pages inside Stumble streams without disclosing that they were paid for, something that few other widely-loved technology companies could get away with. Mega corp eBay can't be blamed for any of this as Stumble's founders recently bought the company back (which is awesome).

Perhaps the bulk of Stumble-submissions were already coming from publishers though, not from fairies touching web pages with dew-drop-dripping magic wands as we naively hoped.

We're sure Su.pr will be great for StumbleUpon and for publishers, but we'll have to see how good it is for users. Fortunately some self-correction is baked in to StumbleUpon, viewers simply vote down weak content and other people are thus likely to be served that content as they Stumble through the web. The efficacy of that self-correction may be mitigated by a substantial increase in noisy publisher content pushed into the system out of self-interest though. We'll see!

If you would like to try out Su.pr for yourself, you can use the invite code "suprrww."

Using Sqworl to shorten links does two things: first, it helps you organize a series of links under one short URL, and second, it provides a series of site thumbnails - a lightbox of sorts - so recipients can see what they're getting before they click. (As an example, here are Twitter accounts for ReadWriteWeb writers.)

While Sqworl works as advertised, there are a few minor drawbacks. The Sqworl URL isn't the shortest URL you're going to find and there aren't any click tracking features. (Admittedly, you could solve either of those issues by running the Sqworl URL through a URL shortener that provides tracking.) And if you're adding new sites to a collection - which is likely what you're doing - the thumbnails take a few minutes to generate, so sharing them too soon will defeat the purpose.

Even if you don't want to share the links with anyone else, Sqworl is worth trying. With some ingenuity, you could make your personal link management or social bookmarking more visual. Using the combination of Sqworl's collections and thumbnails, you may soon be scanning for links based on visual clues - much like the icons on your desktop.

If saving URLs with a visual reminder sounds helpful to you, take Sqworl for a spin and start squirreling your URLs away.

What makes Krunchd special is how many URLs it allows you to shorten at once. You see, with Krunchd, you're not just shortening one URL, you're crunching (pun intended) an entire list of URLs into one short URL. It's a concept similar to Agglom. Only instead of using browser tabs, it brings the recipient to a list of URLs you'd like to share.

Example? Let's say I want to share the Twitter accounts for the RWW writers. Usually, I'd have to send a bunch of separate links, but with Krunchd, it just takes this one URL.

Granted, this isn't technological rocket surgery, but conceptually, it's an interesting take on the problem of sharing URLs with your peers. What's more, it's taking into consideration the way many of us share URLs today. We're not always sharing multiple resources, but when we are, this approach makes a great deal of sense.

As an added bonus - given that the service is new - early users also gain the benefit of getting a really short URL. The service is currently auto-generating URLs that only add 2 additional characters to the Krunchd URL.

While the idea is thoughtful, there is one obvious drawback to Krunchd. And it's something that will likely prevent me from using it: they require you to provide an email address to use the service. There is no privacy policy posted, so I've no idea what they're doing with this information. Even more importantly, I've no idea why they think they need it.

That said, the next time you have a bunch of URLs that you have to share, it may be worth giving Krunchd a try - if the email address thing doesn't bug you.

[UPDATE] Krunchd has removed the email requirement, indicating that it is only necessary if you're interested in modifying your list of URLs in the future. They have also added a privacy statement.

People should stop using TinyURL! In the following post we'll list a few reasons why this is important and point you towards some of the best alternative link shorteners.

Some people argue that URL shorteners are inherently bad. They obfuscate links, the put people at risk of malware or RickRolling and they are unprofessional. Be all that as it may, URL shorteners are so useful that they are here to stay.

TinyURL has huge mindshare and credibility because it's been around for a long time, is widely used and its name clearly says what it does. It's very useful to share shortened links with people by email, IM, Twitter etc. but both users and system administrators are sometimes less willing to trust an obscure URL shortener they haven't heard of before.

If you use TinyURL, you run the risk of your links being broken, for several days out of almost every month. How on earth is this acceptable to people? Perhaps other people don't use URL shorteners for anything important, but we do, and we expect the links we share with people to work.

Alternatives

There's a nearly infinite list of alternatives to TinyURL, but here are three of our favorites.

Bit.ly is a new URL shortener with some awesome semantic web and geolocation data APIs on the back end. Using it will make the world a better place. Bit.ly also offers users all kinds of statistics.

We use Bit.ly with the wonderful Firefox extension URLBarExt, though that does add a few steps that aren't really necessary. Once you've got it set up it's super easy to use.

SnipURL offers many of the same stats that Bit.ly does but is friendlier to use. It doesn't have the semantic magic on the back end but it is more immediately social.

Cli.gs has analytics and a new "geotargeting" feature, as you can see demonstrated in the video below.

There Are Countless Alternatives to TinyURL

TinyURL obviously isn't too concerned about their uptime or else the problem wouldn't continue every single month. There are smarter alternatives all over the web and spreading the love around can't help but decrease load problems.

There are a number of "roll your own URL shortener" options and that is pretty classy - but for most of us just getting to know some alternatives would be a very good idea.

Next Gen Apps Won't Be Pushed Around By the Browser

The invention of the browser was a huge boon to the internet and a substantial amount of computing now goes on through that interface we've grown to love. The internet is not a place where innovation takes a break, though, and a new generation of applications are emerging that have a different relationship with the web browser.

From taking control of the browser to connecting to the web outside of it, there are a number of new strategies being implemented by startups these days. In the following post we discuss seven different ways that new apps are telling browsers "you 'aint the boss of me now!" Some you'll be familiar with, but some you may not be.

Wikis Are Now Serious Business

Only a handful of years ago, it was common to hear people laugh at Wikipedia. Anyone can edit it! How could you take it seriously? These days, just as blogs are, wikis are on their way to winning a reputation as serious publishing platforms.

Free hosted wiki provider Wetpaint announced last night that it's now raised a total of $40 million in venture capital. To celebrate this major financial validation of the wiki world, we thought we'd offer a brief survey of some of the most interesting ways that wikis are being put to serious use today.

How to Make Facebook Useful Again

Oh the heels of some of Facebook's missteps (ahem, Beacon) and the proliferation of a myriad of useless, silly, and time-wasting apps, some former Facebook users decided to quit the site for good this year. However, a handful of early adopter angst doesn't have Facebook worried. Why is that? Because Facebook has a whole generation of users who grew up using their site for everything social back when it was just a way to network with their high school or college friends. So what are the everyday Facebook users doing that keeps them engaged in the service? It's not throwing sheep, apparently. For many Facebook users, there are still useful apps to be found and ways to use the service that the rest of us could learn from.

See also: Why There Should Be Web Search on Facebook and Facebook Censoring User Messaging: Spam Prevention or Unaccountable Control of Conversation?

Google Health Launches - Cautious, Non-Innovative Entry into Health 2.0

This week Google announced the public availability of Google Health, after initially launching as a closed beta back in February. It is described as "a safe and secure way to collect, store, and manage [your] medical records and health information online" and is being positioned as a way for users to control their own medical records.

Google Health is a decent entry into the game-changing (and potentially hugely profitable) world of health 2.0. But in comparison with other health startups, Google Health has a limited scope and is not as innovative a service as we've come to expect from Google...

The Future of Mobile Social Networks: 4 Promising Services

Recently we discussed some of the problems plaguing mobile social networks. These problems include location, marketing strategies and compatibility issues. Our readers also contributed their thoughts on hardware compatibility and GPS. While no network is perfect, in this post we profile some of the key players in the market. Here's a look at four mobile social networks that may have what it takes.

SEE MORE WEB APPS COVERAGE IN OUR WEB APPS CATEGORY

Web Trends

Report: The Mobile Web is the New Hangout

According to Opera's survey of the more 11.9 million Opera Mini users in March, almost 41% of mobile traffic now goes to social networking -- up to 60% in some countries, including the US. Compare that to about 6% of total web traffic for social networks outside of the mobile web. That's not overly surprising, though, given the recent proliferation of new smartphones aimed at consumers (or at least phones that can view the full web), made ultra-chic over the past year by Apple's iPhone. Says Opera, 3/4ths of mobile web traffic is now to the full web, rather than WAP or .mobi sites, which are quickly becoming out-moded.

See Also: To Beat Google, Beat Google to the Mobile Web

Do you use the mobile web? Remember to vote in our poll below.

Social Media U: Take a Class in Social Media

Social media. Web 2.0. You know what these things are and you take advantage of them every day on the net. Whether you're socializing on Facebook, updating Twitter, or just adding a new bookmark to Ma.gnolia, social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. However, that doesn't mean that it's something that everyone innately understands or knows how to use - especially when it comes to using it for marketing, PR, or other business-related purposes. That's why many of today's colleges and universities are now offering "social media" classes as an option for their students.

How to Use Social Media for Social Change

Did you participate in the Twit-Out this week? Do you even know what that is? To get you up to speed, a handful of Twitter users, fed up with the regular outages of their favorite service, decided to band together to show Twitter some tough love by boycotting the service for a day. (Unfortunately, despite having fewer users on the service, Twitter still went down). However, in light of recent world events, it's a shame that the cause the tech community has chosen to rally around is that of Twitter's instability. Aren't there more important things going on right now?

The URL Is Dead, Long Live Search

Last week Josh Catone was watching TV and saw something that really caught his eye. It was a commercial for Special K, the breakfast cereal from Kellogg, and rather than end with a plug for the product's web site -- SpecialK.com -- it advised people to search Yahoo! for "Special K" instead. He started to wonder two things: 1. is Yahoo! paying Special K for tack-on advertising? and 2. has searching really become so natural that it is more effective to tell people to search for your site than it is to tell them to visit directly?

SemTech Panel: Taking Semantic Technology to the Masses

How will the Semantic Web make the jump to the mainstream? That was the topic of a panel at the SemTech 2008 Conference that happened this week in San Jose. The panel was moderated by Carla Thomson from Guidewire Group and featured Josh Dilworth from Porter Novelli, Tom Tague, who heads the Calais initiative at Reuters, and Mark Johnson, who is a product manager at Powerset. This post is based on notes from that panel.

See also: SemTech Panel: Investor Opportunities and Pitfalls

SEE MORE WEB TRENDS COVERAGE IN OUR TRENDS CATEGORY

That's a wrap for another week! Enjoy your weekend everyone.