Google's Shortened Links Won't Work Next Year. Here's What to Do

The long-running clock on Google's URL shortener goo.gl finally has a death date: Aug. 25, 2025. That's when links that were shortened using the defunct service will no longer be accessible, according to a blog post from Google.

It's not as if Google hasn't given some warning. It announced way back in 2018 that it was phasing out the service, which allows you to enter a long web address and shorten it to something much more compact for easier linking in posts. Goo.gl was one of several popular URL shorteners, including Bitly and TinyURL, that rose alongside the explosion of social platforms like Twitter, where people sharing links needed to conserve characters.

At the time, Google said it was no longer going to accept new URLs to shorten, but it continued to support the use of existing goo.gl links.

"Today, the time has come to turn off the serving portion of Google URL Shortener," Google said in its blog post last week.

But "today" is a bit of a stretch, since the URLs will continue to work until next year. Starting in August 2024, an interstitial warning page will appear before you're taken to the target URL. 

On Aug. 25, 2025, they won't work at all and will return a 404 error message.

If you've still got content on the web using the link shortener, you've got a year to update those links to avoid sending people to a dead end.