Donuts Launches BL.INK: Unprecedented Branded Short Link Solution

Embraced by Leading Brands and Digital Marketing Thought Leaders

Donuts Inc., the global leader in high-quality, new top-level Internet domains, announced general availability of BL.INK – an exciting new short link solution that uniquely leverages the power of real words – including Donuts’ leading portfolio of 240 new top-level domains – for creating branded and custom short links.

BL.INK is the evolution of BudURL, a best-in-class link management platform that serves top-tier digital marketers in leading companies such as Coca-Cola, Airbnb, Target, and many others in the Fortune 1000.

“TEN: The Enthusiast Network’s Adventure Sports Group has iconic brands such as Surfer, Transworld Skateboarding, Adventure Sports Network, Snowboarder and Powder Magazine. We switched to BL.INK because we needed a link management platform that’s flexible and agile, to meet the very different needs of each of our media brands. BL.INK enables us to elevate our social marketing and connect with our readers via branded short links,” said Kris Heineman, director of Audience Development at TEN.

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Donuts acquired BudURL in 2017 and has been working in stealth mode to enhance the product with unique, game-changing features, a new name (that conveys its agility and simplicity), and a robust API that allows distribution as a value-added service (VAS) through Donuts’ extensive registrar and reseller channel of more than 200 partners.

“We use the BL.INK across all our social channels. We are able to track metrics with great detail, and with the branded short link, we’re able to maintain our brand standard while doing so,” said Jared Muscat, social media content producer at Patagonia.

“Short links are a digital marketing essential – for any size business. Every digital interaction should reinforce your brand or convey your message. At Donuts, we saw an opportunity to offer a better product: links that use real words,” said John Pollard, executive vice president, Donuts Registry. “We found the best link management platform, and for the first time ever, customers can create custom links using brands and other meaningful, memorable, real words.”

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“BL.INK is another example of our commitment to find and develop new value-added services for the domain channel. With BL.INK, our partners have an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from the economics of this rapidly-growing space. With the power and reach of our channel, BL.INK can now be embraced by businesses of all sizes. It’s a win-win-win-win, for BL.INK, for Donuts, for our partners and for their customers,” Pollard continued.

Concurrent with the launch of BL.INK, Donuts also announced the formation of the BL.INK Advisory Board, a group of influential thought leaders in digital marketing, branding and online communications. The purpose of this group is to provide guidance on BL.INK’s product strategy and innovations, act as important conduits to digital marketers throughout the world, and offer advice and commentary on best practices for short linking and link management.

Recent research affirms the growing importance of short links that use real words. In a survey conducted by Sapio Research and commissioned by Donuts, respondents overwhelmingly opted for branded short links using real words, over links containing long strings of characters and / or legacy short links. Reasons for preferring branded short links using real words included: more meaningful information, clarity of content, identification with the brand, trust and greater simplicity.

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