Google updated its goo.gl shutdown plan to keep actively used shortlinks alive, a reversal that affects legacy link equity and redirect chain management for SEOs.
Google has reversed its plan to shut down all goo.gl shortlink redirects, announcing it will instead preserve actively used links rather than break them. The company had previously said all existing goo.gl URLs would stop working after August 25, 2025.
The reversal matters for SEOs and digital marketers who manage sites with legacy goo.gl links embedded in backlink profiles, documentation, video descriptions, and social posts. Any goo.gl URL that still redirects represents a hop in a redirect chain, and understanding which links survived (and which didn’t) is now a practical audit task.
What Changed
Google’s URL Shortener launched in 2009 and stopped accepting new links in 2019. In July 2024, Google announced that all remaining goo.gl redirects would be fully discontinued after August 25, 2025. That meant every goo.gl shortlink, regardless of traffic, would eventually return a 404.
Google has now walked that back. According to the company’s updated blog post, feedback from users made it clear that goo.gl URLs are embedded in countless documents, videos, and posts across the web, and breaking them all would cause widespread link rot.
“While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we’ve adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links.”
Google (blog.google)
The key distinction is between “actively used” and inactive links. Google began showing interstitial warning pages on some goo.gl links in late 2024, and links that saw little to no traffic were already being deactivated. Under the updated plan, links that still receive meaningful traffic will continue to redirect normally.
Why This Matters for SEO
Every goo.gl shortlink that still works represents a 301 redirect hop between the referring page and your destination URL. For most sites, a single extra hop is not a ranking problem. But when goo.gl links sit inside longer redirect chains (for example, goo.gl to a moved domain to a new path), the cumulative latency and potential for crawl-budget waste adds up.
The bigger concern is link equity. If a high-authority page links to your site through a goo.gl shortlink, that redirect needs to keep working for the link signal to pass through. Google’s reversal means those active links will continue to function, but there is no public documentation on what threshold Google uses to classify a link as “actively used” versus inactive. Links that fell below that threshold may already be dead.
For anyone managing backlink profiles built during the 2009 to 2019 era when goo.gl was widely used, this is a prompt to audit. Inactive goo.gl links that already stopped redirecting are now broken backlinks, and no amount of waiting will bring them back.
What To Do Now
- Audit your backlink profile for goo.gl URLs using your preferred link analysis tool. Test each one to confirm whether it still redirects or returns a 404/interstitial page.
- Check internal documentation, help center articles, and marketing collateral for goo.gl links. Replace any dead ones with direct destination URLs.
- For high-value pages that receive link equity through a working goo.gl redirect, consider reaching out to the linking site to request a direct URL update, removing the shortener from the chain entirely.
- Update your link-building SOPs to avoid URL shorteners for any SEO-critical links. Google’s repeated policy changes on goo.gl highlight the risk of depending on third-party redirect services for link equity.
- Monitor Google’s developer documentation for any future timeline changes or clarification on what qualifies as an “actively used” link.
Open Questions
Google has not published the specific traffic threshold it uses to determine whether a goo.gl link qualifies as “actively used.” It is also unclear whether the preservation applies indefinitely or if Google plans a future sunset date even for active links. The blog post does not address either point.
There is also no updated guidance on whether goo.gl redirects are 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary) in all cases, which affects how search engines treat the passed link signals. SEOs managing sites with significant goo.gl backlink exposure should test redirect behavior directly rather than assume consistency.
Looking Ahead
Google’s decision to preserve actively used goo.gl links is a pragmatic acknowledgment that shortlinks from a 16-year-old service are woven deeply into the web. For SEOs, the practical takeaway is straightforward: audit now, replace what you can control, and stop relying on URL shorteners for anything tied to long-term link value. Google has changed its mind on goo.gl twice in the span of a year, and there is no guarantee the current policy is the final one.
AI-generated first-pass scaffolding. This draft was produced by Search Engine Journal’s newsroom automation as a starting point for a writer. Rewrite before publishing.
Research notes (review and remove before publishing)
The bot collected this context while writing. Skim, verify, then delete this whole section before publish.
Headline alternatives
- Google Reverses Course, Will Preserve Active Goo.gl Links
- What Google’s Goo.gl Link Update Means for Your SEO Audits
- Goo.gl Links Won’t All Die: Google Adjusts Shutdown Plan
Primary sources cited
- (A) We’re updating our plans for goo.gl links.
“While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we’ve adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links.” — Google blog
Practitioner pulse
No meaningful practitioner discussion found; X/Twitter and LinkedIn results are entirely archival blog posts about goo.gl from 2010–2014 or unrelated Google corporate content.
Background
Google’s URL Shortener (goo.gl) was launched in 2009 and shut down to new link creation in 2019. In July 2024, Google announced all existing goo.gl redirects would stop working after August 25, 2025 (developers.google.com). In August 2025, Google reversed course, announcing it would preserve actively used links rather than break them, after feedback that goo.gl URLs are embedded in countless documents, videos, and posts (blog.google). The service was internally replaced by Firebase Dynamic Links. SEJ has not previously covered the goo.gl sunset or reversal specifically.
Open questions for follow-up coverage
- What is the exact threshold Google uses to determine whether a goo.gl link is ‘actively used’ vs. inactive?
- Does the preservation apply indefinitely, or is there a future sunset date for even active goo.gl links?
- How does a goo.gl redirect (301 vs. 302) affect PageRank flow in current Google ranking systems?
- Is this story actually newsworthy for SEJ given the August 2025 announcement date — is there a newer development the goo.gl URL was meant to surface?
Image search query
“broken chain link digital redirect”
Flags
degraded research: preflight, gemini.bg
Fact-check flags
- · low — “Google’s URL Shortener launched in 2009” — The research brief’s background section states goo.gl was launched in 2009; worth confirming against Google’s own documentation. (source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update)
- · low — “stopped accepting new links in 2019” — Research brief confirms goo.gl shut down to new link creation in 2019; consistent with known history. (source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update)
- · low — “In July 2024, Google announced that all remaining goo.gl redirects would be fully discontinued after August 25, 2025” — Research brief background confirms this timeline; the primary source quote references the August 25, 2025 date. (source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update)
- ◐ MED — “Google began showing interstitial warning pages on some goo.gl links in late 2024” — Neither the primary source quote nor the research brief explicitly mentions interstitial warning pages appearing in late 2024; this detail may be accurate but is not directly supported by the supplied sources.
- ◐ MED — “links that saw little to no traffic were already being deactivated” — The research brief says inactive links ‘were already killed in late 2024’ but the primary source materials don’t provide explicit detail on deactivation of low-traffic links; the draft’s wording may be an inference.
- ◐ MED — “The service was internally replaced by Firebase Dynamic Links” — This claim does not appear in the draft but is in the research brief background; noting for completeness that Firebase Dynamic Links itself was also deprecated by Google, so the characterization as a ‘replacement’ is potentially misleading if used.
- · low — “shortlinks from a 16-year-old service” — If launched in 2009 and the article is published in 2025, the service is 16 years old; math checks out but depends on publication date.
- ◐ MED — “Google has changed its mind on goo.gl twice in the span of a year” — The July 2024 announcement and the subsequent reversal (described in the blog post) constitute two policy changes, but characterizing both as happening ‘in the span of a year’ depends on the exact date of the reversal, which the brief places in August 2025 — that’s 13 months, arguably stretching ‘a year.’ (source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update)
- · low — “”While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we’ve adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links.”” — Direct quote matches the primary source verbatim as cited in the research brief. (source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update)
- ◐ MED — “Every goo.gl shortlink that still works represents a 301 redirect hop” — The draft later acknowledges uncertainty about whether goo.gl redirects are 301 or 302, which contradicts this earlier assertion that they are 301 hops; no source confirms the redirect type.
Drafter’s writer notes
FACTCHECK_FLAGS_GO_HERE
Degraded research stages: Both preflight and gemini.bg stages were degraded. The article is built entirely from the single tier-A primary source (blog.google). Verify the following before publish:
1. Confirm the blog.google URL (https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update) is still live and the quoted text is accurate. The source article body was not extractable during research. 2. The background section states Google announced the original full shutdown in July 2024. Verify this date against the developers.google.com documentation or archived announcements. 3. The article references inactive goo.gl links being deactivated in ‘late 2024’ based on the brief’s background context. Confirm the specific timeline. 4. No SEJ prior coverage of the goo.gl sunset or reversal was found. If SEJ has covered this, add internal links. 5. No practitioner social discussion was found. If notable reactions surface before publish, consider adding a quote. 6. The article does not specify whether goo.gl redirects are 301 or 302. This is flagged as an open question. If you can confirm via testing, add that detail. 7. Consider whether this story needs a dateline qualifier (‘earlier this year,’ ‘in August’) since the dateline age is unknown.
Follow-up angles: A technical test piece examining a sample of goo.gl links to determine redirect type (301 vs 302) and survival rate could be a strong companion article.
Fact-check pass: Most claims are well-grounded in the research brief, but the draft makes several unsourced specifics (interstitial pages in late 2024, deactivation of low-traffic links, 301 redirect type) and contains an internal contradiction about redirect status codes that should be resolved before publication.
- · low — “Google’s URL Shortener launched in 2009”
The research brief’s background section states goo.gl was launched in 2009; worth confirming against Google’s own documentation. Source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update
- · low — “stopped accepting new links in 2019”
Research brief confirms goo.gl shut down to new link creation in 2019; consistent with known history. Source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update
- · low — “In July 2024, Google announced that all remaining goo.gl redirects would be fully discontinued after August 25, 2025”
Research brief background confirms this timeline; the primary source quote references the August 25, 2025 date. Source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update
- ◐ medium — “Google began showing interstitial warning pages on some goo.gl links in late 2024”
Neither the primary source quote nor the research brief explicitly mentions interstitial warning pages appearing in late 2024; this detail may be accurate but is not directly supported by the supplied sources.
- ◐ medium — “links that saw little to no traffic were already being deactivated”
The research brief says inactive links ‘were already killed in late 2024’ but the primary source materials don’t provide explicit detail on deactivation of low-traffic links; the draft’s wording may be an inference.
- ◐ medium — “The service was internally replaced by Firebase Dynamic Links”
This claim does not appear in the draft but is in the research brief background; noting for completeness that Firebase Dynamic Links itself was also deprecated by Google, so the characterization as a ‘replacement’ is potentially misleading if used.
- · low — “shortlinks from a 16-year-old service”
If launched in 2009 and the article is published in 2025, the service is 16 years old; math checks out but depends on publication date.
- ◐ medium — “Google has changed its mind on goo.gl twice in the span of a year”
The July 2024 announcement and the subsequent reversal (described in the blog post) constitute two policy changes, but characterizing both as happening ‘in the span of a year’ depends on the exact date of the reversal, which the brief places in August 2025 — that’s 13 months, arguably stretching ‘a year.’ Source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update
- · low — “”While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we’ve adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links.””
Direct quote matches the primary source verbatim as cited in the research brief. Source: https://blog.google/technology/developers/googl-link-shortening-update
- ◐ medium — “Every goo.gl shortlink that still works represents a 301 redirect hop”
The draft later acknowledges uncertainty about whether goo.gl redirects are 301 or 302, which contradicts this earlier assertion that they are 301 hops; no source confirms the redirect type.
