Billions of URLs using Google's link shortener will stop working in 2025
Google's URL shortener service links will stop working in 2025, affecting developers who use them.
Google has announced that links created through its URL shortener service, goo.gl, will cease to function after August 25, 2025, resulting in a 404 error. The service was originally deprecated in 2018, and developers were advised to transition to Firebase Dynamic Links, which have now been deprecated as well.
To give developers ample time to adjust, starting August 23, 2024, a certain percentage of goo.gl links will display an interstitial warning page about the 2025 expiration date before redirecting users to the original web link. This percentage will gradually increase until the shutdown date, enabling developers to identify and modify affected links.
Google explained that the rise of other popular URL shortening services has contributed to the decision. The web has evolved since 2018, with a shift towards mobile-first experiences. Despite these changes, the introduction of interstitial warnings could pose challenges for link redirections, but these warnings can be bypassed by adding the query parameter 'si=1' to the goo.gl links.