A Gnip Data Story, a.k.a interview, with bitly’s Hilary Mason provides the most substantive detail I’ve heard about what her team actually does:
My team plays a few roles within the company. We handle the business analytics, which can be answering very simple questions like, “How many new URLs did we see yesterday?” to complex questions like, “How do we value a URL being clicked from platform X vs platform Y over time?”.
… In summary, my team is responsible for pushing the boundaries of where bitly can go. It’s fun.
There’s plenty more where that came from.
Good stuff. Just always been curious.