Google Backpedals On Goo.gl Shutdown To Preserve Active Links (nerds.xyz) 19
BrianFagioli writes: Google is changing its mind about killing off all goo.gl short links. The company had originally planned to shut them down entirely by August 25, 2025. That decision sparked concern among developers, educators, journalists, and everyday users who rely on these links across the web.
Now, just weeks before the deadline, Google is taking a softer approach. It turns out the company is only going to disable goo.gl links that haven't seen any activity since late 2024. If your link is still being used or clicked, it should keep working. This adjustment comes after what Google describes as community feedback.
Now, just weeks before the deadline, Google is taking a softer approach. It turns out the company is only going to disable goo.gl links that haven't seen any activity since late 2024. If your link is still being used or clicked, it should keep working. This adjustment comes after what Google describes as community feedback.
There's A Plugin For That! (or there will be) (Score:1)
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I don't understand that, since those links are clicked rather than copy pasted or dictated, so there's no reason to have shortened links on a webpage.
To be useful that plugin should just visit all those links, get the destination and then replace the link.
No link is short enough for me (Score:2)
Links are best shortened to non-existence. Thanks!
Standard google behaviour (Score:3)
1) Release a service
2) Wait until a critical mass of people are using it
3) Revoke service without any reason (though we know the real reason is they cant mine enough data from it to make a profit)
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Yes, keep relying on Google (Score:4, Insightful)
What fools! Yeah, go ahead and keep relying on Google. They have clearly shown themselves to be very reliable, never shutting down projects out of the blue.
If something they provide is that critical to your work, you very well may want to find a way to take care of it yourself or otherwise find another source because nothing is ever permanent with Google. Ever.
Re: (Score:2)
Can someone remind me what country .gl stands for.
$ grep GL /usr/share/zoneinfo/iso3166.tab
GL Greenland
Forgive my ignorance... (Score:2)
Is it possible to write a link that will 'click itself' every 6 months to keep itself alive?
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You can do a Linux server with a cron-job that does wget regularly. That is one reason why I have Linux servers.
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whats the harm (Score:3)
How much could it possibly be costing them to keep this service alive... they could have it in a holding pattern for another 15 years and then kill it when its really no longer being used and it would cost them pennies.
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How much could it possibly be costing them to keep this service alive... they could have it in a holding pattern for another 15 years and then kill it when its really no longer being used and it would cost them pennies.
goo.gl links are a significant abuse vector, so Google has to maintain a non-trivial team to monitor and mitigate the abuse. I'll bet there are several full-time employees working on that, and that the total annual cost is seven figures.
Even if it weren't an abuse vector, the nature of Google's internal development processes mean that no service can be left completely unstaffed. The environment and libraries are constantly evolving, and all the services require constant attention to prevent bit rot. A
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You can't generate new Goo.gl links, haven't been able to for a long time.
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To be fair: a six figures salary per year is pennies for Google.
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They are now deep into "stupid revenue optimization" territory.
Yaaay (Score:2)
So the malware flood can continue.