Google+ hands out custom URLs to prominent users
updated 06:59 am EDT, Tue August 14, 2012
Companies, celebrities get shorter Google+ addresses
Google is rolling out vanity URLs to profiles on its social network. In a move similar to Facebook's Username system, Google+ will supply memorable customized addresses to a small number of verified profiles and accounts, with businesses such as Toyota, Delta Airlines and Britney Spears shortening their profile URLs by a considerable amount.
A post on the service suggests that the custom URLs would be available to all users in the future, although it was not mentioned how this would occur. When it originally started offering Usernames, Facebook opened up the service to brands and high profile individuals first, then allowing others to register their own months down the line. Google could be going through the same process, having already allocated an initial batch of companies and celebrities their URLs.
The move to more memorable addresses is likely to help Google+ increase its traffic further. In July, it was revealed that Google+ had 60 percent more unique visitors than nine months previously, with traffic to the network reaching over 110 million unique international visitors in June. [via TechCrunch]
