Add bit.ly stats integration

"
if you shrink a link to google.com through bit.ly and send it, you'll see clickthrough stats for anyone else who also shrunk google.com through bit.ly. Not that useful if you want to measure metrics on a specific tweet.
"

I'm sorry to differ, but that's not correct.

bit.ly offers both stats: your link, and the "aggregate" (their term).

An it's a very precious information, as you can evaluate your influence versus total influence on a given link.

Anyway, maybe you do have a better URL shortener. But you should let your users decide for themselves.

I understand the adsense-on-ow.ly strategy is important to you. But you don't need to force users into it. We can decide the best tool for the situation at hand.

I can see myself paying for HootSuite, if it's at least as open as Twitter is:

a dashboard that don't try to lock me in it's own set of tools, but to control a whole range of tools (bit.ly, twitterfeed, etc.)

I'm in the camp with the rest of the people on this thread. I think bit.ly support is an important step for HootSuite. I can understand developing Ow.ly and making it the default for HootSuite but you should also make it possible to integrate stats base on bit.ly links.

From my recent experience on Hootsuite, ow.ly does not give me immediate feedback on metrics, as opposed to bit.ly which is, on top, better accepted (many tools for it).
I can understand that bit.ly is against your dev plan with your own Ow.ly, but until Ow.ly is improved, I'm kind of forced to use Bit.ly...

Also, you need to understand that, for companies, each time you wish to use something, you need to go through a lenghty and painful legal approval process. (even if personal use). Therefore the tool really needs the edge to justify a change.

Please do keep going as I like the tool very much.

I agree with others. Currently you and we know that ow.ly isn't better than bit.ly. And you can get the same statistics with bit.ly API.

So there is no need to force us to use it.

Please give us some options! Did you forget it's web 2.0 and it's all about being useful?

I'm in the camp with the rest of the people on this thread. I think bit.ly support is an important step for HootSuite.

I agree with the others, only more so.

Jeff and HootSuite,

You can improve ow.ly by not using frames to hijack links. Digg tried this recently and was blown out of the water by a massive wave of user protest. Josh Grubber, who has some authority on the subject, called the DiggBar (and by extension other link-hijacking framed url shorteners) "total bullsh--".[1]

You have informed users who WILL abandon your product and use one that doesn't force them to do things they don't want to do, like using a "bullsh--" URL shortener that uses frames to hijack their links. Keep in mind that for every user that actually goes to the trouble to find and post in a thread like this, there are many more who feel the same way but haven't taken action. If you continue to marginalize or ignore their concerns, you will most likely find that they do so rather than continue to beat their heads against a brick wall.

Here's hoping you make the right decision, both for your users and thereby for your product.

[1] http://daringfireball.net/2009/04/how...

I'm already using bit.ly on TweetDeck so I've got lots of stats for my tweets there. Not being able to pull those in is a definite disadvantage of using HootSuite. Guess I'll try it for a while and decide whether to go back to TweetDeck.

HootSuite has the potential to be a great team twitter tool.
We used it for that usage for DrupalCon Paris (started with the older version) and it was useful.

But there is competitors, and they understood we prefer / need integration, not substitution :
«Click Tracking
CoTweet works seamlessly with bit.lyTM, the most popular and powerful URL shortener on the Internet. View click statistics on links from your tweets. Configure your bit.ly accounts with CoTweet to keep your link history in one place.»

Personally I tried and didn't like CoTweet too much, so I'm torn here...

As I said, I can see myself paying a small annual fee for a dashboard that don't try to lock me in it's own set of tools, but allow me to control a whole range of tools (bit.ly, twitterfeed, etc.)

I agree with the others as well.

HootSuite is great for tweeting. Great gui, great functionality and stuff. BUT: I do love bit.ly for URL-shortening and HootSuite sticking to ow.ly only shows you are afraid of competition with a service which is much better right now. ow.ly could be, but it ́s not competitive at the moment.

Give people the choice of using bit.ly. That will only give you posivite encouragement to improve ow.ly to become as good or better. Competition can be the most healthy improvement incentive there is you know.

I ́m staying with HootSuite for a while and hope you will change this, but if not, I guess Tweetdeck and Seesmic are better overall products after all.

Seesmic? Thanks! I'll check it out!

Honestly, the only thing holding me back from switching to something else is Hootsuite's ability to schedule a tweet. Rumor has it some of the others are considering professional tweeting packages similar to Hootsuite's so if they offer that function in a for-pay ackage, I just might subscribe.

I don't see it mentioned here, but, in CoTweet you can easily check the bit.ly stats on anyone's tweet-links, as you your competitors' in a sidebar without leaving the timeline. This seems to be a huge competitive advantage for CoTweet in terms of both UI and utility.

I have used CoTweet for a little over a week but have come back to Hootsuite because of the hootlet and because I enjoy the UI. It's also more convenient to tweet to multiple accounts.

BUT the single most compelling reason for me to switch is bit.ly integration.

I understand why they stick to ow.ly It's a proprietary thing. I think they should stay course.

Displaying the Hoot pane at the top of every page linked to by an ow.ly url is ANNOYING and hides part of the page. I never read what it say - just close it. When I retweet ow.ly links I convert them to some other URL shortener.

I want to try the iPhone app and was if it was free to try but won't be if I cannot change the URL shortener.

ANNOYING.