What will happen when billions of links vanish overnight? That’s exactly what is going to occur when Google’s URL shortener, Goo.gl, shut down after dominating the link-shortening market for nearly a decade. Google first launched their URL Shortener service Goo.gl on December 14th, 2009 right around the time Twitter and Bitly were taking off. There was a need for short links for services like Twitter where character limits were important. Eventually, they launched analytics and an API which was heavily adopted and over time was used to create billions of short links. Ahrefs has recorded over 26 Billion short URL backlinks to the Google URL Shortener over the past 16 years. That doesn’t account for short links shared privately.
“Goo.gl’s API became the default url shortener for developer’s, powering applications and marketing campaigns worldwide. From tracking clicks to enhancing user engagement, the service was used by thousands of applications.”
Fast Forward to 2018: A Shocking Announcement
After years of being the #1 source of short links, the unthinkable happened. Google announced they were shutting down their service and many users panicked and looked for alternatives. Developers scrambled to migrate their links and services to alternative APIs for creating short links, while marketers sought reliable alternatives to maintain their campaigns. Fortunately, around this same time, I was in the process of building the URL Shortener Extension and T.LY URL Shortener. Within months of launching T.LY, it quickly became a go-to alternative, with hundreds of thousands of users joining and over a million links created in the first year. Over time hundreds of thousands of users have migrated to my extension and URL shortener service.
“As someone who saw the growing demand for reliable URL shorteners, I began working on T.LY before Goo.gl’s shutdown. When Google announced their service would be discontinued, I knew users would need an alternative.”
August 25, 2025: The End of an Era
On August 25th of this year, all Google short links will stop functioning and no longer redirect. The big question is what happens when billions of links all around the internet cease to work?
- Broken Links and the Internet’s Memory
- Billions of Google short links will result in a massive number of broken links across websites and social media.
- Opportunities for Alternative URL Shorteners
- With Goo.gl links no longer functioning, services like T.LY have an opportunity to fill the void left behind. Users are already actively searching for reliable URL shortener services. My goal is to be the best free URL shortener on the market while offering paid features for users who need more analytics and features. T.LY allows users to create short links without an account.
Do We Still Need URL Shorteners in 2025?
While platforms like Twitter have removed character limits, URL shorteners still have value for businesses and individuals who need click analytics, engagement tracking, and the ability to update URLs or QR codes dynamically. Services like T.LY offer features to created branded links and QR code management that go far beyond simply shortening URLs. Just do a quick search on any social media platform or news site and you will see URL shorteners are still being used every day. What are your thoughts? Are you concerned about Google shutting down their URL shortener service? Do you think we still need URL shorteners in 2025?
Thanks for reading. Make sure you follow me on Twitter to stay up to date on the progress of my side projects T.LY, Weather Extension, and Link Shortener Extension. If you are interested in the tech I use daily, check out my uses page.