> Starting March 30, 2018, we will be turning down support for goo.gl URL shortener. From April 13, 2018 only existing users will be able to create short links on the goo.gl console. You will be able to view your analytics data and download your short link information in csv format for up to one year, until March 30, 2019, when we will discontinue goo.gl. Previously created links will continue to redirect to their intended destination. Please see this blog post[1] for more details.
[1]: https://developers.googleblog.com/2018/03/transitioning-google-url-shortener.html?m=1
Hmm, so replacing something simple and straightforward with something incredibly complicated aimed at a different use case...
https://www.amazon.com/Red-4TB-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B00EHBERSE...
and change it to:
https://amazon.com/dp/B00EHBERSE
That's 122 chars to 32 chars. This kind of tactic works for tons of sites.
How do you get your link out of https://www.amazon.com/Red-4TB-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B00EHBERSE... without using a tool?
https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10260&cs_id...
p_id is all that matters:
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=29523
95 chars to 45 chars.
CDW is more fun. They expect some pretty part of the URL, but don't do anything with it. So you shorten it to 1 char if you want the link to still work:
https://www.cdw.com/product/Tripp-Lite-10ft-Cat6-Gigabit-Sna...
becomes:
https://www.cdw.com/product/T/934322
127 chars to 37.
In other words, a 80000-pound gorilla sits anywhere it damn wishes to. (Yes, I know that the original gorilla was two orders of magnitude smaller)
If true its actually surprising they kept the service going this long.
https://goo.gl/maps/6zJsoaCTgTD2
is much better than this:
https://www.google.it/maps/place/Presidio+di+Francavilla+Fon...
E.g. imagine a non tech savvy person having to read and type in https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20f094ea5a928af85-f... to sign up for a church supper.
is.gd/ourchurch-supper2018 is so much easier.
http://kilobytely.com/sh6vk9ync1qf4tnc1qf4ti7wlazowlazod2rg5...
Shortened URLs are also easier to type by hand / read aloud and look prettier visually.
It's basic now but I'll be building it up in light of this.