Bit.ly has launched a new realtime search engine called “rt.ly”, which enables you to search for what the internet is talking about in real time, based on data generated by the millions of bit.ly links being shared by users across the web.

Have you ever been tempted to open a file or link because it had a sexy name? Be very careful. Adam was tempted by forbidden fruit and look what happened to him.

Bitly News is a Hacker News like aggregator for Twitter trending links based on click data available through Bit.ly API.

Pingdom tests puts Google’s Goo.gl URL shortener as the fastest URL shortener. Goo.gl rival Bit.ly is 3 times slower than Google’s URL shortener.

Bit.ly recently launched an option to generate QR codes from shortened URLs. They also take a Potshot at Google with their new QR Code feature.

Twitter will use a t.co link shortener into status updates and this feature will be used to prevent phishing scams. It will be available in the Twitter API soon.

I have never since this before when I have clicked on thousands of bit.ly links before. However, when I clicked on a Bit.ly URL today, it displayed a warning to me that the site in question is harmful and may harm my computer. The warning is something similar to what Google displays to users on Firefox and Google Chrome.

One of my favorite Twitter tool TweetDeck’s blog just threw in a surprise news at us. It looks like Bit.ly is now using custom domains for Bit.ly Pro accounts while shortening the URLs. So if you try to shorten a URL for TechCrunch you will end up getting a branded URL for tcrc.ch.