Google has announced a significant change to its plans regarding the support for goo.gl shortened URLs, which were previously set to be discontinued on August 25th. The company stated that URLs currently displaying a deactivation notice will still cease to function, a warning that had been issued nine months prior for links that “showed no activity in late 2024.” However, all other goo.gl links will remain active and usable indefinitely, according to a statement from Google made on Friday.
In 2019, Google stopped allowing users to create new goo.gl links. The announced discontinuation deadline was first introduced in July 2024. During that announcement, Google highlighted that the existing URLs had experienced a marked decline in traffic, with over 99 percent of them receiving no activity in the last month. In its latest communication, Google acknowledged the valuable feedback from users, stating, “we understand these links are embedded in countless documents, videos, posts and more.”
