First, some background. URL shortening has been around for years. It long preceded TinyURL and has always been good business. We got into the business in 1997 with Domain Direct, a service that dealt with what we called at that time the “~ problem.” This was the long and embarrassing URL that came along with the free webspace most ISPs provided at the time. It also dealt with the long and embarrassing URLs that came with free websites from the likes of Tripod and Angelfire.

TinyURL and the like came along years later with the purpose of making the sharing of temporary URLs (blog posts and news items mostly) much easier, but they are not as effective as a domain name for permanent URLs, like http://noss.org/work. The experience with Domain Direct and a love of URL shortening was what drove our thinking in coming up with Hover.

URL forwarding services have three goals. They should be easy to use, should make long, complicated URLs short, and the resulting URLs should be memorable. Easy is a function of the tools (and I do think our tools at Hover are the easiest available). Short and memorable are a function of the semantics.

When looking at “short” we should be clear that it is only in Twitter, and then again only in the rare Twitter post, that “hyper-short” matters.

It is with “memorable” that the difference really emerges. So let me be clear. The best “URL-shortening service” is simply a combination of great tools and your own domain name. The difference in using http://noss.org/bitly and http://is.gd/pind is huge in terms of “memorable.” Not only is the shortened URL easier to remember; it becomes a bit of personal branding (I hate using the word “branding” in this context but I do not have a better alternative. The whole concept of earned media is definitely relevant here), especially when the shortened URL is shared forward by a third party!

Of course, using your own domain to create forwards also addresses all of the concerns of control, archiving, spamminess and other evils that were raised in the original posts and elsewhere. I have now had this conversation with three hardcore geeks and when I say “Look, the answer is simple. Just use your own domain and CNAMEs!” they just stare at me and say “Oh yeah. I never thought of that.”!

Hover is a hassle-free domain management service that makes it easy for anyone to buy a domain name, set up a personalized email address and connect a domain name to all of their web services – in seconds.

“Many providers will sell you a domain name, but none make it really simple to use those names,” said Ross Rader, General Manager, Hover. “Our goal is to make domain names as easy to use as they are to buy.”

Hover’s features include:

• Hover’s innovative URL forwarding tools make it incredibly easy to manage your personal identity online:
  • Use Hover to point other people to various web pages. For example, rather than sending someone a link that looks like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCutOJ5YfMk , you can use Hover to create “shortcuts” that look like this: http://awesomelawncare.com/tips or http://howto.awesomelawncare.com.
  • Hover helps users create personalized email and email forwards that share the same personalization as the domain name. This helps get rid of ugly email addresses like: lawncare99@hotmail.com, replacing them with personalized addresses like sales@awesomelawncare.com
• They also include simple, easy-to-use domain management tools like WHOIS privacy and DNS management all included at no extra charge.

Hover offers three options for selecting domain names:

• Use a simple search that offers helpful domain name suggestions to easily find that perfect domain name. At launch, Hover offers .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, .US and .CA, with more options coming soon.
• Bring an existing domain name that you registered with another provider to Hover and take advantage of Hover’s advanced features and easy-to-use management tools.
• Choose a “Personal Domain” based on your first and last name for the ultimate in personalization. Hover offers access to over 39,000 surnames for web addresses and email.

Hover is the only domain name management service to offer a free trial, allowing users to check out some of the Hover tools before paying. Paid Hover accounts all include:

• A domain name
• Unlimited domain and link forwarding
• Easy POP, IMAP and webmail upgrade options
• Unlimited customer support via email, web and telephone
• Customized, ad-free and iPhone-compatible Hover page
• Easy-to-understand pricing with no confusing upsells or add-ons.

Hover is clear and open with users about their rights and responsibilities as a domain name owner. There are no over-complicated domain ownership rules or shifty practices. Instead Hover provides easy-to-read terms and conditions, an interactive Domain Name Timeline and other tools to give customers the information they need to manage domain names without a hassle.

“With Hover we’ve taken more than 12 years of experience selling domain names and combined it all with the latest web technologies to make domain name registration simple and less confusing,” said Elliot Noss, President and CEO, Tucows. “There’s no reason that the average person should feel intimidated, or confused when buying a domain name. Hover delivers on its promise to make a domain name as easy to use as it is to buy.”

Hover takes a “best practices” approach to domain sales, using Tucows wholesale services provided by OpenSRS as its foundation. Tucows Retail Services is unifying its ItsYourDomain (IYD) retail, NetIdentity and Domain Direct domain registration services on Hover. Customers of IYD (It’s Your Domain) were transferred to Hover last week. Domain Direct and NetIdentity customers can look forward to being transferred in early 2009.

About Tucows

Tucows is a global Internet services company.

OpenSRS manages over 8 million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 9,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.