Mostly agreed... I understand it's easier to print http://foo.bar/123 than http://markettingsite.com/?campain=xyz&... But there's absolutely nothing stopping every website from hosting their own.

It's mostly for print usage anyway.. and with all the TLDs out there now, you can definitely still get some short options. I literally have one strictly for (reverse)dns for my server(s). Another for my mail server, separate from the domains the server hosts.

Also, hosting your own means you don't have to worry about being associated with externalized spam links. Of course, if you are a spammer, then it works even better for users that will block you.,