Shoud I create an paying url-shortener?

Hey everyone,

I though about to program an url-shortener which works like e.g. adfly. I think that I have the programming skills to that, but I don't know. I think it would be very interesting for me to make such a service, but in the end I would publish it and want to make money with it.
Yes there are many shortener like that out there, but here are some features that I would to integrade into that project:

• Choose advert option:
  • Don't make money with the link (no adverts will be shown)
  • Make money with the link(adverts will be shown)
    • Money make options:
      • x€/1000 views
      • I can't find it right now, but I can remember of an url-shortener which adverts the links with some adverts, where the visitor can click on it and make a purchase. From that earnings, the person who made the link would get x%. I hope you can understand what I mean here.
      • The last option I'm thinking about is similar to the option above. Here the visitor don't make a sale, here the visitor will register. From that earnings, the person who made the link would get x%.
• Http-Refferer:
  • Anonymous refferer
  • Custom refferer
  • Don't change anything, so it will be the normal refferer
• Very clear statistics
• Reffer a friend and get x% from his earnings. Several stages of reffering, so that you get y% from an reffered friend from your reffered friend.
• Option that you can buy traffic, so that your advert will be shown on the links (only view, no sale or sign-up links)
• ...

Sorry for my bad English, but I'm german and yeah.
So, what are you thinking about it? Should I do this or leave it?

Idea seems nice but have you done it or sure you can manage it ? If so then go ahead also hear to features what people want. Good luck.

There are plenty of competitors & it may be difficult to gain some traction, but that shouldn't stop you from moving forward. I've seen a bunch of shorteners that do some variant of the features you listed, but I don't recall seeing one that allows for all of those options, unless I'm mistaken.

DigitalAnt said:

Idea seems nice but have you done it or sure you can manage it ? If so then go ahead also hear to features what people want. Good luck.

Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure if I can handle it but I love to challange myself and give all my best into it.
Yes, when I have done the "main features" I would take some ideas from other people and integrate it.

phr0zt said:

There are plenty of competitors & it may be difficult to gain some traction, but that shouldn't stop you from moving forward. I've seen a bunch of shorteners that do some variant of the features you listed, but I don't recall seeing one that allows for all of those options, unless I'm mistaken.

Click to expand...

Yeah, you are right. There are a lot of sites and all of them have their advantages and disadvantages. I want/ try to make one service that have all the advantages in one.

Crowded market and most fail dismally as they have trouble attracting advertisers because of few users, you will only attract users if you can pay them quickly and/or offer a USP
Also you need to look at fraud prevention as some users will send fake traffic and use click bots.

Asif WILSON Khan said:

Crowded market and most fail dismally as they have trouble attracting advertisers because of few users, you will only attract users if you can pay them quickly and/or offer a USP
Also you need to look at fraud prevention as some users will send fake traffic and use click bots.

Click to expand...

That is a good point. The hardest thing will be to get active members and at the same time attractive advertisers. I'm sorry, but what is a USP?
Yes, for fraud prevention I would use an Captcha (Google ReCaptcha), if the IP open x links in x seconds or take the Captcha always like ouo.io. I don't know, I decide it on a another day

Tanctho said:

That is a good point. The hardest thing will be to get active members and at the same time attractive advertisers. I'm sorry, but what is a USP?
Yes, for fraud prevention I would use an Captcha (Google ReCaptcha), if the IP open x links in x seconds or take the Captcha always like ouo.io. I don't know, I decide it on a another day

Click to expand...

USP = Unique Selling Point, how are you going to differentiate your service from the others out there.

If it is something you really want to do then go for it, but try to work out all aspects and costs of the service before starting work. You need to look at how much work is involved, the time spent, costs involved and when you will get a return on your investment (ROI)
The first steps will be looking at how you will attract users and advertisers, pricing for advertisers and payments to users.
To be successful you will need to attract a lot of users, so initially you will probably want to pay all advertising income directly to users then lower the rates unless you can attract enough users that advertisers are knocking your door down.
When will you show a profit? How many users will you need to make xxxx amount of money?