Does the world really need another URL shortener? Apparently, the U.S. government thinks so. It just launched http://go.usa.gov as a link shortening service for government employees. It shortens links from any .gov, .mil, or .si.edu site.

For instance, http://go.usa.gov/llX takes you to a page on Nasa’s site with some nice satellite imagery showing the Fall colors in Wisconsin. And http://go.usa.gov/liO is a link to www.Recovery.gov (I think you save two characters n that one). The idea is that if you see one of these short links you know it is coming from a government employee, which doesn’t exactly make it official but is supposed to make it more trustworthy.

When you see a go.usa.gov tweet, it will be like getting a messge directly from Uncle Sam, or rather, one of his minions. But I mean, really, can’t they just use bit.ly like everyone else?

With commercial link shorteners such as Cli.gs and Tr.im falling by the wayside, maybe the government will start a short URL bailout next. Go.USA.Gov!

(Hat tip to Anil Dash)