The shortest possible long-term URLs were generated by NanoURL from December 2009 until about 2011, associated with the top-level .to (Tonga) domain, in the form , where xxxx represents a sequence of random numbers and letters.[15] On 14 December 2009 Google announced a service called Google URL Shortener at goo.gl, which originally was only available for use through Google products (such as Google Toolbar and FeedBurner) and extensions for Google Chrome.[17] On 21 December 2009, Google introduced a YouTube URL Shortener, youtu.be.[18] From September 2010 Google URL Shortener became available via a direct interface. In the Tracking Pixels menu, click on “Google Universa…” A new window will open. With the URL Shortener API you can write applications that use simple HTTP methods to create, inspect, and manage goo.gl short links from desktop, mobile, or web. You can also add a “bitly sidebar” to your browser.
Some countries place restrictions on who can register domains with its country TLD — though this is becoming less and less common as countries realize the revenue opportunities from selling domains worldwide. Here are some guidelines: Campaign Name This field should contain some of the most specific information about what kind of email this is. Does your website code allow the following external variables? utm_source= utm_campaign= utm_medium= For the sake of page security, a link is designed to fail if a query value outside of what is expected is fed in to a page. For example, the URL "" can be shortened to "", and the URL "" can be shortened to "".
Write down this value and the combination title or description it goes with so you can reference it when you view your data in Google Analytics later. But the details of how to do this are well out of the scope of this article. There are other methods of redirecting, but a 301 is the best choice if you are concerned about SEO. By entering in a URL in the text field below, we will create a tiny URL that will not break in email postings and never expires. Linkrot[edit] The convenience offered by URL shortening also introduces potential problems, which have led to criticism of the use of these services. How Click Tracking Looks in Plain-Text Campaigns To track a click, the original URL has to be replaced with one that points to our servers and redirects to the destination URL.
The Google URL Shortener (Goo.gl), the Bitly URL shortening service and the Tiny URL service all offer basic click stats. This can be done online, at the web pages of a URL shortening service; to do it in batch or on demand may require the use of an API. But like I said, on Twitter, the Twitter folks have already figured out the whole URL shortening thing.
Other URL shortening services provide a similar destination display.[32] Security professionals suggest that users check a short URL's destination before accessing it[citation needed], following an instance where shortening service cli.gs was compromised, exposing millions of users to security uncertainties.[33] There are several web applications that can display the destination URL of a shortened URL.[citation needed] Some URL shortening services filter their links through bad-site screening services such as Google Safe Browsing. Links to files on removable media are not maintained. Undo Undo URL Shortener @URL_Shorteners_ 4 Dec 2012 More iPad users can connect with friends to count down til their favorite movie premieres! Keys can be generated in base 36, assuming 26 letters and 10 numbers. You can use initials for one or more words or, if it works, all of them. There are a lot of other link shorteners, many being novelty systems (like a link shortener that doesn’t really shorten but turns your URL into a Dickens quote, or one that makes your link look shady and nefarious, or one that churns out a hipster-phrased link) or ways to earn money for yourself or for charities through ads that appear before the user gets to the destination URL.