Google URL Shortener

Google URL Shortener, also known as goo.gl, was a URL shortening service owned by Google. It was launched in December 2009, initially used for Google Toolbar and Feedburner. The company launched a separate website, goo.gl, in September 2010.

Google has replaced the service internally with Firebase Dynamic Links which is now used to shorten links for Google Maps and Google Workspace products.

The user could access a list of URLs that had been shortened in the past after logging in to their Google Account. Real-time analytics data, including traffic over time, top referrers, and visitor profiles was recorded. For security, Google added automatic spam system detection based on the same type of filtering technology used in Gmail.

The service has not been accepting new users since April 13, 2018 and Google discontinued the service for existing users on March 30, 2019. However, existing links will continue to redirect to the intended destination. It was succeeded by Firebase Dynamic Links, but existing links did not become Dynamic Links automatically.

On July 18, 2024, Google announced that existing Google URL shortener URLs will stop working as of August 25, 2025. Google will add an interstitial page to warn users about this starting August 23, 2024.