Google is making a last-minute change to its plan to shut down all goo.gl shortened links later this month. While the company will still deactivate many URLs after August 25, 2025, it now says it will preserve links that remain in active use.
The goo.gl link shortener, launched in 2009, was officially discontinued in 2019 in favor of Firebase Dynamic Links, but existing shortened URLs have continued to function. In 2024, Google announced a full shutdown for August 2025, giving users a year to migrate to other services.
That complete shutdown is no longer happening — at least not for every link. In an update, Google confirmed that “actively used” goo.gl URLs will continue to work beyond the deadline. These are links that still receive clicks and have been embedded in “countless documents, videos, posts, and other online resources.” The company acknowledged that disabling them could cause widespread disruption.
Inactive links, however, are still being removed. Google defines these as URLs that showed no activity in late 2024, which have been displaying a warning page stating, “This link will no longer work in the near future.” According to the company, more than 99% of goo.gl links saw no traffic in the last month prior to the announcement, meaning the majority are set to go dark.
If you’re unsure about the status of your shortened link:
- Still works without a warning page? It’s safe and will continue to redirect after August 25.
- Shows an interstitial warning? It will be disabled after the deadline, and you’ll need to update it with a new, permanent URL.
While this partial reversal will save some frequently used links, Google’s decision effectively marks the end for the vast majority of goo.gl URLs. Users relying on them for important documents, websites, or embedded resources should check and replace inactive ones now to avoid broken links later this month.
