Are URL Shorteners Bad?
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There is nothing wrong with using URL shorteners. Let’s face it, for social media needs, it’s difficult to live without there. But it is also worth noting that they should not be a part of your website’s long term promotional structure.
Why? Because what if they stop working? What then? Yes, you could have over a few hundred URLs all using shortened URLs only to find that all the work you did promoting such URLs, is now for not.
All of this being said, I would still recommend them when using one that has been around for awhile, especially if it is for the immediacy of passing around links over social networks. Just remember to use them only when needed, and only with the understanding that they are not a complete URL posting solution for blogs and websites.
11 Comments
These are a Few of My Favorite Things | Chris Pirillo
August 13th, 2009
at 10:35pm
[...] Are URL shorteners a good thing? [...]
David Plimbley
August 13th, 2009
at 10:45pm
I think they are a very good idea! but they are very popular for hackers redireting you to 5-6 different sites for financial gain and control over your computer. but then again if you have a program thats hows you what they are sending you to (i cant remeber mine) but the general idea of url shorteners is innocent
Barry Karas
August 13th, 2009
at 11:39pm
08-14-2009
Why shorten URLs when the actual URLs can be favorites or bookmarks?
Silicon Tokyo Shortener ~ Windows Fanatics
August 14th, 2009
at 12:20am
[...] URL shorteners a good [...]
bromberg
August 14th, 2009
at 12:32am
Yes indeed: Buyer Beware! I lost a bunch of shortened URLs on the now-defunct SHURL website. Those SOBs didn’t have the decency to post a count-down warning. Poof! From one day to the next they were all gone.
Hotrao
August 14th, 2009
at 5:57am
On a “marketing” and promotional point of view url shorteners are a good tool.
In my opinion, on the other side, they could be a possible threat to average internet user, because url shortening could disguise a redirecting activity that is not easily detectable.
BillyBuff
August 14th, 2009
at 9:31am
I’m least likely to click on a shortened URL….why? Because it doesn’t show the true URL and it might lead to a malicious site. :-(
Chad
August 15th, 2009
at 10:45am
One thing that always irked me about them is that the links lose their context when shortened… are the links good? bad? lame? awesome? That’s why I built my own at http://fnla.me and http://fnaweso.me . Now the links I shorten have a little more meaning!
Colby
August 15th, 2009
at 11:31am
i think that their good as long as their not used for distributing viruses…. :)
Faisal Humayun
August 15th, 2009
at 12:11pm
The recent tr.im debacle, and this interview with Eric Woodward at techZING! regarding the whole matter http://tr.im/wj1i
is a great spring board to understanding this concern further.
Aryeh Goretsky
August 16th, 2009
at 12:03am
Hello,
I do not think URL shorteners are bad per se, however, they do have the effect of directing you through a a third-party site. In the event that a URL redirecting site goes under, what is to stop a malicious organization from purchasing the domain and, say, redirecting all the orphaned links to spam or malware? There are trust issues involved with using a URL shortening service.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky