Bit.ly is the most widely-used URL shortener on the planet. For spying on the competition, it’s fantastic, with essentially open data for anyone to view. Bitly track stats for every link they generate, and you can access these stats by adding a + sign to the URL – bit.ly/xyz becomes “bit.ly/xyz+”, which will show you engagement stats for that particular link – a window into analytics on your own, as well as other people’s links.
