I think it's pretty easy to make an argument against URL shorteners, but I think it's a bit harder to defend killing existing short links. Stop new links from being minted, keep up a "Report Abuse" page, maybe even scan the existing DB for Google Login look-alikes. The upkeep is as much or less than responsibly running a URL short link site in the first place.
Instead, they're just disappearing _all_* goo.gl short links. The overwhelming majority of which are benign links made by users who were promised a super stable URL link shortening service backed by the Google brand.
> All other [active] goo.gl links will be preserved and will continue to function as normal. To check if your link will be retained, visit the link today. If your link redirects you without a message, it will continue to work.
I know its been deprecated. I'm just saying that they could have stopped it there.
It is true that it is not _all_ links, apologies. "Inactive" here is defined as "not visited in 2024" which is a crazy small envelope. I wouldn't be surprised if nearly all links were deleted.
Instead, they're just disappearing _all_* goo.gl short links. The overwhelming majority of which are benign links made by users who were promised a super stable URL link shortening service backed by the Google brand.
*edit: Not all, but nearly.