Definition: URL shortening

Converting a long URL name into a short one. Also called "URL redirecting," there are free URL shortening services on the Web that take a long URL and convert it to a short one for publication on a Web page or other venue. When the short URL is clicked, the URL shortening service receives the request and redirects it to the long URL.

Short URLs are widely used to slim down long URLs that are printed in magazines and newspapers to make it easier to type into a browser. They are also used in email, because long URLs sometimes wind up broken into two lines of text at the recipient's end and cannot be clicked as one link. See webloc.

   URL Shortening Sites

   Bitly.com

   Goo.gl

   NotLong.com

   qURL.com  (Quick URL)

   Shorl.com  (Shorlify)

   SnipURL.com

   TinyURL.com

   URLcut.com

Sometimes It's Ridiculous

Every once in a while, an extremely long URL is provided, perhaps to obscure an actual location or possibly out of laziness. Although only a tap or click should retrieve the intended page, long URLs can be very intimidating.