Hanselman was redirected through a convoluted path that used link shortening for analytics and tracking, and found the end result frustrating from a user standpoint. There are security implications, and obsolete short URLs remain in existence and may be circulated long after they cease to point to a relevant or even extant destination.
Google has additional means of collecting data: you can gather a lot of statistics when you own the top browser and search engine! Undo Undo Shorten URL @ShortenURL 10 Jul 2011 More Statistics for Sunday, July 10, 2011 Thanks. Not all protocols are capable of being shortened as of 2011, although protocols such as http, https, ftp, ftps, mailto, mms, rtmp, rtmpt, ed2k, pop, imap, nntp, news, ldap, gopher, dict and dns are being addressed by such services as URL Shortener.
In addition to easy link shortening, you can use the service with your own domain, customize the characters at the end of your links, get real-time statistics and even see which countries your clicks are coming from. If you are using the newer Universal tracking please refer to the docs. If not, then it might be reused from a previous request to shorten the same URL. longUrl is the long URL to which it expands. As they say, barriers can boost creativity, so people have learned to be pretty witty with 280 characters, even inventing hashtags to make the whole process easier. Adding tracking directly to your site If you have added the Analytics tracking code directly to your site, you can copy and paste the script below into your own pages to set up Event tracking for outbound links. Bitly also offers a paid version, but it's pretty pricey.
Tag Type: Select either “Universal Analytics” or “Classic Analytics”, depending on whichever you are using. Consider alternate extensions: If your top choice isn't available, consider using a country code TLD (ccTLD) such as .to or .co. Tracking Links to your PDF Using Open Site Explorer you can take the full URL of your PDF and drop it directly into the search bar and click search. In April 2009, TinyURL was reported to be blocked in Saudi Arabia.[27] Yahoo!
It wasn’t long before link shorteners quickly became more than mere link shorteners. You can use your own short URLs to point to different pages on your site. In Tiny, click the “Stats” page button under the URL to access the statistics. You cant just go there and type how your day went and expect Twitter to accept that. Then in Google Analytics go to “Content” Then under the "Site Content" drop-down click "All Pages" And search for “pdf” to see all of the PDF's that are tagged in this way. Actions Shorten a long URL The Google URL Shortener API allows you to shorten URLs just as you would on goo.gl. Another consideration is that some countries also restrict what content can be used their TLDs, so if you intend in shortening content that might be in violation of these laws, you'll need to find another TLD. This is the title that will show in your Google Analytics account after the automation is started. Adding tracking directly to your site If you have added the Analytics tracking code directly to your site, you can copy and paste the script below into your own pages to set up Event tracking for outbound links. In the sidebar click on Content » Events » Top Events.