Link shortener
A public service that turns long URLs into short redirect links. In email its shared domain hides the destination and can carry other users' bad reputation.
What it means
Filters judge the domains a message links to. A public shortener puts its own domain in your message instead of yours, shared with everyone else who uses it, including spammers who use it to hide the real destination. SURBL's open letter to redirection site operators describes spammers using redirectors to wash the sites they promote.
Blocklists respond by listing the shortener's hostname. Spamhaus's Domain Blocklist has a return code for abused redirector domains and lists hostnames only, never full URLs, so a listing covers every link on that domain, yours included. Google asks that links in messages be visible and easy to understand, so recipients know what to expect.
Link to your own domain, or use a branded tracking domain, rather than a public shortener.
Related terms
On this site
Sources
What this definition rests on. The wording is ours; the facts are theirs.
- SURBL: An open letter to operators of redirection sitessurbl.org
- Spamhaus FAQ: Domain Blocklistspamhaus.org
- Google: Email sender guidelinessupport.google.com
All 432 terms in the glossaryThe wiki: blocklists and bounce codes