In 2018, Google announced the closure of its short URL generation service, goo.gl, for consumers and developers. By 2019, the service generated its last link. Recently, the IT giant announced that links created using goo.gl will stop working on August 25, 2025.
Google stated that by this time, more than six years would have passed since the last short link was created. Starting August 23, 2024, functioning short URLs will display a warning: “This link will no longer work in the near future.” Users can still follow these links and choose to disable the warning for future clicks. We’ll keep you updated as more details emerge.
Impact of Warning Messages on Short Links
Google notes that the message indicating the end of support for short links might cause the redirection process to fail. For instance, if you use other 302 redirects, the interstitial message might prevent the redirect chain from completing correctly. Embedding social metadata into your landing page might also be affected, causing it not to appear where the original link did. Google recommends clicking on these links promptly to avoid potential issues.
Steps to Mitigate Issues
The addition of an interstitial message about the imminent end of support for short links is being rolled out gradually, notes NIX Solutions. This gives users time to save the information they are interested in or adjust their settings. Additionally, Google suggests adding the query parameter “si=1” to existing goo.gl links to block the warning message from appearing. Stay tuned as we’ll keep you updated on any further developments regarding this change.