Google's URL shortener service will cease to operate entirely on August 25, 2025. This shutdown will render billions of redirected URLs non-functional after this date.
The service launched in 2009 and stopped accepting new URL redirects in March 2019. Since then, many users have relied on the short links provided by the goo.gl service.
Starting on August 23, 2024, users clicking goo.gl links will see a notification page informing them that the link will no longer be supported after August 25, 2025. Google has stated, “Starting August 23, 2024, goo.gl links will start displaying an interstitial page for a percentage of existing links, notifying your users that the link will no longer be supported after August 25, 2025, before navigating to the original target page.”
What to expect
From August 23, 2024, clicking on goo.gl redirected URLs will display an interstitial page with this notice. This will continue until August 25, 2025, when the notice will be removed and the URLs will stop working altogether, resulting in a 404 not found error.
Google elaborated, “Over time, the percentage of links showing the interstitial page will increase until the shutdown date. This interstitial page should help you track and adjust any affected links you need to transition as part of this change. We will continue to display this interstitial page until the shutdown date, after which all links served will return a 404 response.”
The interstitial page might disrupt the current flow of your goo.gl links. For instance, if you use other 302 redirects, the interstitial page might prevent the redirect flow from completing correctly. Also, if you've embedded social metadata in your destination page, this metadata might need to be displayed correctly. Therefore, it is advisable to transition between these links as soon as possible.
Impact on existing links
According to Majestic, a link tracking tool, billions of Google shortener URLs are still active on the web. These links, embedded in various contents, will stop working when the service shuts down. “It's okay, and there are only 3.6 billion http://goo.gl links that Majestic has picked up. And 36 billion historically. August 25 will be exciting,” Glenn Gabe commented on X.
It's ok, there's only 3.6 billion https://t.co/VjE6xjVgSX links that Majestic has picked up. And 36 billion historically. August 25 will be very interesting. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/O3jUZHFQr3
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) July 18, 2024
For those who rely heavily on goo.gl links, updating all those links might be a significant task. If you have the resources, ask those linking to you with goo.gl redirects to update their URLs to direct links.
In any case, you have about a year to prepare for the complete shutdown of these URL redirects.
