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The link https://is.gd/oArdcv is meaningless. I accidentally clicked it from a page that explained how to logout all Google accounts. This link was translated/redirected to https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity?utm_source=google-account&utm_medium=web which is much more meaningful.

Where can I find more information on how this translation/redirection occurs? What would a random link like https://kjdf.qewr/q34th translate to?

Or do the reverse: what will a meaningful website like https://www.meaningful.website.com be translated to? To https://asjdvn.sdf/ckdj ???

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  • I’m voting to close this question because it is not about running a website. Rather it is about how URL shortening services work.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Feb 13, 2022 at 13:41
  • Pardon me. This is the first time I hear about URL shortening service.
    – lisprogtor
    Feb 14, 2022 at 5:16

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It's not algorithmically generated, it's random. The domain name in the URL is a shortening service.

The way URL shortening services work is that if someone wants a shorter URL, they go to their preferred shortening service, paste their long URL, are given a randomly generated short URL.

The service then remembers the long URL and the random string in the short URL acts as a key to select that from their database.

Should a user visit the short URL, the service just redirects them to the pre-defined long URL.

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  • Thank you very much!
    – lisprogtor
    Feb 14, 2022 at 5:16

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