<P> There are several reasons to use URL shortening . Often regular unshortened links may be aesthetically unpleasing . Many web developers pass descriptive attributes in the URL to represent data hierarchies, command structures, transaction paths or session information . This can result in URLs that are hundreds of characters long and that contain complex character patterns . Such URLs are difficult to memorize, type - out or distribute . As a result, long URLs must be copied - and - pasted for reliability . Thus, short URLs may be more convenient for websites or hard copy publications (e.g. a printed magazine or a book), the latter often requiring that very long strings be broken into multiple lines (as is the case with some e-mail software or internet forums) or truncated . </P> <P> On Twitter and some instant - messaging services, there is a limit to the number of characters a message can carry--however, Twitter now shortens links automatically using its own URL shortening service, so there is no need to use a separate URL shortening service just to shorten URLs in a tweet . On other such services, using a URL shortener can allow linking to web pages which would otherwise violate this constraint . Some shortening services, such as goo.gl, tinyurl.com, and bit.ly can generate URLs that are human - readable, although the resulting strings are longer than those generated by a length - optimized service . Finally, URL shortening sites provide detailed information on the clicks a link receives, which can be simpler than setting up an equally powerful server - side analytics engine, and unlike the latter, does not require any access to the server . </P> <P> URLs encoded in two - dimensional barcodes such as QR code are often shortened by a URL shortener in order to reduce the printed area of the code, or allow printing at lower density in order to improve scanning reliability . </P> <P> Some websites create short links to make sharing links via instant messaging easier, and to make it cheaper to send them via SMS . This can be done online, at the web pages of a URL shortening service; to do it in batch or on demand may require the use of an API . </P>

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