Nov 17, 2009

Long URL's please

Sure a url shorten-er is useful for deep links, but it's WAY out of control. The majority of posts I see with a shortened url have the characters to spare to include the full url. In fact they even have the requisite spare characters left to fit in a Re-Tweet string on the front with the full url.

I've even seen URL's lengthened by shorteners, UG!

But why should you not use a url shortener?
  • If the service goes away, or decides to dump it's old database your link is Dead.
  • Because I want to know where you are sending me, there is a lot of information encoded in a url, though most of it is in the domain name.
    • Domains creating their own URL shortening service like the US government is great and I'm all for it. 
  • You are giving away the link cred to the shortener service, and effectively hiding yourself as the source of the link.
    • in other words the google juice goes to the service not your blog page etc...
    • the refer value that the site you linked to sees in there log will be the shortener service not your blog or wherever you like to post.

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