In your WordPress dashboard in Settings > Permalinks you can choose which format you’d like your permalinks to be. I think this was due largely to the fact that as momentum built and people discovered their friends were all going, tickets skyrocketed. Google’s URL Shortener is handy, though it does allow anyone to access the public analytics on each link.
1 billion times.[1] Other uses of URL shortening are to "beautify" a link, track clicks, or disguise the underlying address. See if you are using Classic Analytics (ga.js) or Universal Analytics (analytics.js).