Technology
Danish Kapoor
Danish Kapoor

Google’s shortened links won’t work as of next year

Google shut down its “goo.gl” URL shortening service in 2019. The company announced that shortened links created with the service will no longer be available as of August 25, 2025. “It’s time to shut down the presentation part of URL Shortener,” Google’s official blog post said.

In line with this decision, all links in the form “https://goo.gl/” are expected to respond with a 404 error next year. Before the shutdown, goo.gl links will start showing a transition page on August 23, 2024, informing users that “this link will not work in the near future.”

This message will initially appear on a select few existing links and will increase in visibility as the deadline approaches. Google encourages developers to update affected links as soon as possible. However, this bypass page may cause disruptions to link redirects.

Google also pulled the plug on the “goo.gl” alternative

When the internet giant announced its decision to shut down its “goo.gl” URL shortening service in 2018, it directed its users to the Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL) solution. However, the company later discontinued this solution as well.

Danish Kapoor