Go.USA.gov

• Do your outreach channels require short URLs? Consider if URLs that include your website’s domain have more value to your public and if your outreach tools require short URLs.
• Does using a URL shortening solution expose your customers to security risks? Consider the potential for abuse by malicious actors through the use of illegitimate redirects that can be abused via short URLs.
• Does using a short URL that isn’t based on your primary domain cause confusion with your customers? Consider the possible confusion the public may have if they visit shortened URLs that don't include your website’s domain for information and it leads them to information they weren’t expecting.

Since the original posting of these FAQs, we have been continuing to investigate ways of ensuring as many Go.USA.gov short URLs continue to work after the sunsetting as possible. Originally, we only felt confident in being able to ensure shortened links created prior to 2017 would continue to work due to some technical changes made to Go.USA.gov back then. However, we are now able to capture the majority of short URLs generated by the system since 2009 and anticipate that the majority of Go.USA.gov short URLs in existence on September 18, 2022 will continue to work after the sunsetting.

We have been able to capture the majority of short URLS generated by the system since 2009 and anticipate that the majority of Go.USA.gov short URLS in existence on September 18, 2022 will continue to work after the sunsetting.

We have been able to capture the majority of short URLS generated by the system since 2009 and anticipate that the majority of Go.USA.gov short URLS in existence on September 18, 2022 will continue to work after the sunsetting.

No. Any clicks made on a short URL after the September 18th sunset date will not be updated and access to the metrics reporting functionality will no longer be available.

Before looking for alternative URL shortening solutions, you may want to consider if you need a short URL at all. Many social media sites are no longer limiting character counts in URLs. Our research with the public strongly suggests that a URL from your own domain is the most trustworthy. For example, see Medicare’s Twitter feed. If you require short URLs, reach out to the agency’s IT office that runs your website. They may be able to create a redirect URL. There are also commercial URL shorteners available. However, your usage of these may be impacted by policies your agency has in place.

The other services you receive from GSA are not affected. This notification is limited in scope to Go.USA.gov.