In late 2009, Google released their new goo.gl URL shortener service for use with Google products and services. On the goo.gl website, it is mentioned that URL shortener service is not available for “broader consumer use”.

However, a certain Matthew Flaschen has made it possible to use goo.gl for any URL through a convenient Javascript bookmarklet. All you need to do is drag this link into your Bookmarks: Goo.gl

To use it, just click on the bookmarklet when you’re on the page whose URL you’d like to shorten and a pop-up window will appear with the shortened link that you can select and copy.

Update: The goo.gl URL shortener service is now available for public use. The bookmarklet above no longer works.