Google URL Shortener
The Google URL Shortener full wordmark logo
The Google URL Shortener full wordmark logo
Type of site
URL shortening
Successor(s)Firebase Dynamic Links
OwnerGoogle LLC
URLgoo.gl
LaunchedDecember 14, 2009; 14 years ago (2009-12-14)[1]
Current statusDiscontinued as of March 30, 2019 (2019-03-30)

Google URL Shortener, also known as goo.gl, was a URL shortening service owned by Google. It was launched in December 2009, initially used for Google Toolbar and Feedburner.[2] The company launched a separate website, goo.gl, in September 2010.[3][4][5]

Google has replaced the service internally with Firebase Dynamic Links which is now used to shorten links for Google Maps and Google Workspace products.[6]

The user could access a list of URLs that had been shortened in the past after logging in to their Google Account. Real-time analytics data, including traffic over time, top referrers, and visitor profiles was recorded. For security, Google added automatic spam system detection based on the same type of filtering technology used in Gmail.

The service has not been accepting new users since April 13, 2018 and Google discontinued the service for existing users on March 30, 2019.[7] However, existing links will continue to redirect to the intended destination.[8] It was succeeded by Firebase Dynamic Links, but existing links did not become Dynamic Links automatically.[9]

References

  1. ^ Muthusrinivasan, Muthu; D'Angelo, Ben; Mullins, Devin (December 14, 2010). "Making URLs shorter for Google Toolbar and FeedBurner". Official Google Blog. Google. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. ^ Rao, Leena (December 14, 2009). "Bit.ly Just Got Fu.kd: Facebook And Google Get Into The Short URL Game". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  3. ^ Rao, Leena (September 30, 2010). "Goo.gl Is A Go. The "Stablest, Most Secure, And Fastest URL Shortener On The Web"". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  4. ^ Fitzpatrick, Jason (December 13, 2010). "Use Goo.gl URL Shortener Without Google Toolbar". Lifehacker. Gizmodo Media Group. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  5. ^ "Google URL Shortener Now Available as Free Android App". Techno Buffalo. March 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  6. ^ "Google URL Shortener: What happened to the short goo.gl links?". Clickable. June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  7. ^ Li, Abner (March 30, 2018). "Google shutting down goo.gl URL shortener next year, existing links will keep working". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  8. ^ Hermanto, Michael (30 March 2018). "URL Shortener". Transitioning Google URL Shortener to Firebase Dynamic Links. Google Developers Blog. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Transitioning Google URL Shortener to Firebase Dynamic Links". Google Developers Blog. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
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