In this video, Matt from Google Webmaster Tools addresses the issue of URL shorteners and whether using one will impact a website’s page rank. The answer is no, and he explains that Google crawls shortened URLs with the same methods and scoring system, including those subject to a 301 redirect. He also mentions this rule applies to both TinyURL.com and any other similar URL shortening service that a webmaster may select.
A 301 redirect from a shortened URL will get the same page rank flow from Google as a redirect from any other type of site. One key to making this process successful is for a webmaster to use a trusted and reputable URL shortening service. This step will ensure that Google will not mistake the redirect as some type of possible web spam creation. Matt also refers to another video segment in which Danny Sullivan talks about the most recommended URL shortening services and whether each does a 301 or another type of redirect. As long as each URL shortening service has been programmed to do these redirects correctly, Google’s algorithms should not run into any problems awarding good page rank to good content originating from a shortened URL.