Hacking bit.ly and goo.gl

bit.ly & goo.gl users: you can add another query string pair at the end of your link. Any unused pairs are usually ignored-- which will give you not only different shortened links to share but also label one from the other.


Both shortening services are weird about shortening any URL more than once for you. This is a workaround for that by essentially making them different via adding data that will be unused and/or ignored.

Also, neither service provides you a meaningful title for your links beyond the title of the page.

http://rustbeltrebellion.com/?link=facebook
http://rustbeltrebellion.com/?link=googleplus
http://rustbeltrebellion.com/?link=twitter

Guess where I used what.

Here is an example:


Test 1
http://www.google.com/?test=1/  >>  http://bit.ly/oJdAlV || http://goo.gl/9pX4h


Test 2
http://www.google.com/?test=2/  >>  http://bit.ly/qxp4Y5 || http://goo.gl/Ob2oP

Everything above points at the same page of the same site. When your browser arrives at "http://google.com", "?test=#" is completely ignored.

(I can picture sites depending on sequential data in the query string or sites that test for query string shenanigans giving less than satisfactory outcomes-- but by and large you will be successful.)

As cool as this is for bit.ly and goo.gl users who have wanted multiple shortened urls for a single destination for tracking user interest, it is nowhere as cool as what Vitreo has going on with their QR and shortening tools.