goo.gl links not working
The link still prints.
It just stopped
going anywhere.
Google switched off goo.gl short links that showed no activity in late 2024 on 25 August 2025; they now return a 404 error. Links that were still being used, and links made by Google apps such as Maps, keep working. Google’s test is simple: if your link redirects without a message, it still works. A dead link can’t be revived, but its destination is often in the Wayback Machine. Below: what happened and when, a finder that pulls every goo.gl link out of your pages and builds a recovery list, and what it costs to replace them with links on your own domain.
By the Builderify team
Why goo.gl links stopped working,
in six dates.
Google stopped making goo.gl links in 2019 and kept the old ones running for six more years. In July 2024 it said all of them would stop; a year later, three weeks before the date, it decided to keep the ones people still used. So 25 August 2025 broke the forgotten links, not every link.
“Forgotten” is Google’s view, measured in late 2024. A link on a flyer from 2017, a slide deck or an old blog post may have had no clicks that autumn and still matter to you. Those are the ones people are finding now.
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2018
Google announces the end of its URL Shortener and points developers to Firebase Dynamic Links.
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The last day new goo.gl links can be made. Existing ones keep working.
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Google says every goo.gl link will stop responding after 25 August 2025. More than 99% had no activity in the month before.
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Links start showing a notice before they redirect: “This link will no longer work in the near future.”
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Google changes course: links that were active in late 2024 will be kept. Only the rest will be switched off.
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The inactive links start returning a 404 error. Firebase Dynamic Links, every one of them, shut down the same day.
Do goo.gl links still work?
Some do. Here is how to tell.
Open the link. That is the whole test, and it is Google’s own: a link that takes you straight to its page without a message will keep working. One that shows an error is gone for good; there is no form to request it back.
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Still works
Links that were used in late 2024
They redirect as they always did. Google has not announced a further switch-off.
goo.gl/AbC123 → your page -
Still works
Links made by Google apps
Addresses such as maps.app.goo.gl, from sharing a place in Maps, were never part of the shutdown.
maps.app.goo.gl/… -
Gone
Links with no activity in late 2024
They return a 404 error page. Some showed a notice first: “This link will no longer work in the near future.”
goo.gl/xR7kQp → 404
A dead link’s destination is often still findable
Before the shutdown, the volunteer group ArchiveTeam saved goo.gl redirects into the Internet Archive; Gigazine reported 3.75 billion items. Search the full link in the Wayback Machine and an archived capture will often show where it pointed. The Wayback Machine ignores capital letters while goo.gl codes do not, so you may see more than one candidate: check the page is the one you meant.
Find every goo.gl link
on your site, and fix the broken ones.
Paste anything: a page’s source, an export of your posts, the text of a PDF, a spreadsheet column. The finder pulls out every goo.gl and Firebase page.link address, sorts them, and gives you a lookup for each and a replacement address on your own domain. Nothing you paste leaves your browser.
Where old links hide: blog posts and page footers, PDFs and slide decks, email signatures and templates, video descriptions, social profiles, and anything printed with a QR code.
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goo.gl link
goo.gl/xR7kQpOpen it. If it redirects without a message it still works; if not, recover it.
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goo.gl link
goo.gl/forms/Ab12Cd34EfOpen it. If it redirects without a message it still works; if not, recover it.
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Made by Google Maps
maps.app.goo.gl/u9YvTq3bN2Links made by Google apps keep working. Nothing to do.
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Firebase Dynamic Link
yourshop.page.link/appEvery Dynamic Link stopped on 25 August 2025. Replace it.
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goo.gl link
goo.gl/Wb4LmOpen it. If it redirects without a message it still works; if not, recover it.
A goo.gl alternative
that can’t be switched off for you.
Swapping goo.gl for another shortener’s domain just moves the risk. A short link on a subdomain you own, such as go.yourshop.com, keeps its address if you ever change provider: you point the subdomain elsewhere and recreate the paths. Here is what recreating your links costs on each.
| Shortener | Recreating them | First year |
|---|---|---|
| Bitly Free | No own domain on this plan | — |
| Bitly Core | No own domain on this plan | — |
| Bitly Growth | All this month | $348 |
| Rebrandly Free | Over 4 months | $0 |
| Short.io Free | All this month | $0 |
Monthly link allowances and prices from each pricing page on 3 October 2026, as in the Bitly free plan guide. Bitly Core is billed yearly only; Growth is $29 a month yearly or $35 monthly, and includes one domain. Free Bitly links can show a preview page with an ad.
Short links have no line on the rate card. They run on the 250 free credits every account gets each month, alongside anything else you use; packs from $9, once, if you outgrow them.
Start free
Short links on your domain,
in two DNS records.
Builderify Short Links runs on a subdomain you own. Add a TXT record to prove it is yours and a CNAME to point it at Builderify, and your links look like go.yourshop.com/s/spring-menu. A click is counted and the visitor goes straight to the page: no notice page, no ad.
Recreating a goo.gl link takes its destination and, if you like, its old code as the new ending, so go.yourshop.com/s/xR7kQp replaces goo.gl/xR7kQp. You still have to update the places the old link was printed or posted; nothing can redirect goo.gl for you.
What it does
- Your own subdomain, verified with a TXT and a CNAME record
- Your own ending, up to 50 letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, or a random 7-character code
- Change where a link points at any time; the address stays the same
- UTM parameters added on the way through
- Clicks and unique clicks, with referrer, country, device and browser
- Switch a link off without deleting it, and back on later
Not yet
- Importing a list of links: they are added one at a time
- QR codes: make them with any QR tool from the new address
- An API for creating links
Until your domain is verified, links use Builderify’s shared short domain. Coming from Bitly? The Bitly free plan guide covers its limits and the ad page, with a free UTM builder.
A handful of links, and you don’t mind someone else’s domain.
Any free shortener. Rebrandly’s free plan includes one custom domain and 10 links a month; Short.io’s free plan, 1,000 links in total and five custom domains.
Links you will print, and never want to reprint again.
A subdomain you own, on whichever service you choose. Builderify Short Links has no per-link or per-click charge, and you can move the subdomain later.
Hundreds of links to recreate at once.
A shortener with bulk import, or recreate only the links you find still printed or published, from the recovery list above.
goo.gl links, before you ask.
Google switched off goo.gl short links that showed no activity in late 2024 on 25 August 2025, and they now return a 404 error. Links that were still being used in late 2024, and links made by Google apps such as Maps, were kept and still work.
Some do. Google's test is to open the link: if it redirects without a message, it will keep working. If it shows an error, it was switched off on 25 August 2025 and cannot be restored. Links on maps.app.goo.gl, made by sharing a place in Google Maps, were never part of the shutdown.
Search the full link in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Before the shutdown the volunteer group ArchiveTeam saved goo.gl redirects into the Internet Archive, so an archived capture often shows the destination. The Wayback Machine ignores capital letters while goo.gl codes do not, so check that the page it shows is the one you meant.
No. Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on 25 August 2025, the same day as the goo.gl switch-off, and every link stopped, both page.link addresses and those on custom domains. Unlike goo.gl, active links were not kept, so each one needs replacing.
A short link on a subdomain you own, such as go.yourshop.com, so nobody else can switch it off: if you change provider, you point the subdomain elsewhere and recreate the paths. Builderify Short Links works that way, with no per-link or per-click charge on 250 free credits a month, though links are added one at a time.
Sources
Google, Firebase and archive pages, read on 8 October 2026.
- Google Developers Blog Google URL Shortener links will no longer be available (18 Jul 2024, updated 1 Aug 2025)
- Firebase Dynamic Links deprecation FAQ
- ArchiveTeam Wiki goo.gl
- Gigazine, 19 Aug 2025 ArchiveTeam completes archiving goo.gl links
- Internet Archive The Wayback Machine
- Search Engine Land Billions of Google redirects to stop working
- Bitly Pricing: plans and limits
- Rebrandly Pricing
- Short.io Pricing
On the shutdown tracker: goo.gl short links, Firebase Dynamic Links.
Stop losing the visitors
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