Help Me Fediverse Hive Mind! I have some old bit.ly links embedded in QR codes that used to point to a page I'd redirect from. Those pages got lost in a CMS transition, but I'd like to keep using the QRs (they're in a tough-to-change location) and could remake the pages if I knew the addresses. But, the bit.ly links now just return a 404 error. Is there any way to figure out where they are trying to point? Edit: link checkers/unshorteners do not help. #fedihelp #404 #bitly #redirect #PleaseBoost

Tried to log into #Bitly this morning to shorten a link. When I click the login button I get back, "A mysterious error occurred. Please give us a moment to investigate, then try again."
Tried resetting my password. The password reset said it worked, but still getting the same login error afterward.
Tried to create a new account. It claims I'm using an invalid email address no matter what email address I specify, including a Gmail address and an mit.edu address.
Anybody else having trouble?

So now that bit.ly is showing ads, if you need a URL shortener, #lynx is decent and #accessible and easy to host. And before you tell me that we don't need URL shorteners anymore and how they're a security risk, I need them for:
1. Business cards, slides, signs, and other physical objects that need a URL. While most phones can scan QR Codes, you can't read them out loud for #blind folks. If you're doing a presentation, "scan the QR code on screen" isn't good enough. You need to have a URL that you can speak and another human can remember. Yes, NFC is a thing, but it doesn't solve that problem.
2. Places that still don't allow URLs (LinkedIn) or where long URLs are awkward to work with (text-only emails, the terminal, etc.)
3. Times (like a phone call) where I need to tell someone a URL using the noises that come from my face-parts

Find it here: getlynx.dev/
#a11y #bitly

Tired of unwanted ads on your Bitly links?

Say goodbye to Bitly and hello to YOURLS with my new open-source tool!

Easily back up your Bitly data and import it into YOURLS for a seamless, ad-free experience.

Check out the project and give it a try!

#Bitly #YOURLS #OpenSource #URLShortener

https://github.com/Lazza/BitlyEscape

#Business #Reviews
Goodbye Bitly · New preview page with ads is a major step back https://ilo.im/162cz3

_____
#Bitly #UrlShortener #Service #Advertising #Pricing #Marketing #SocialMedia #Website #Webpage #LandingPage

ACHTUNG! #Bitly ändert seine #AGB!

Einer der meistgenutzen Dienste für Kurz-URLs beginnt jetzt durch eine Sprungseite zwischen Aufruf und Weiterleitung, den kostenlosen Teil ds Dienstes zu kommerzialisieren.

Den Nutzern wird #Werbung angezeigt und jeder der diese Kurz-URLs nutzt, spammt damit seine Nutzer voll und spült #Werbegelder in das Unternehmen.

I haven't used the URL shortener #Bitly for ages but I deleted my account after a user-hostile email from them. There is no way I'd subject someone to a preview page full of ads prior to viewing the link. They say "may" but mean "will":

"Beginning in the next month, when your audience interacts with your Bitly links or QR Codes, they may see a preview page prior to being directed to the destination URL. The page includes information about the link destination and may include advertising."

So apparently bit.ly links created under the free plan will now show a "destination preview" which is an "interstitial page that includes a preview of the link destination and an ad".

https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/32874287800333-Why-are-there-ads-on-my-links

learned a neat trick from @Edent – add a + to the end of a #bitly url to see its destination
https://mastodon.social/@Edent/112688372412831849

The irony of TicketMaster's breach notification email
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/06/the-irony-of-ticketmasters-breach-notification-email/

TicketMaster has joined the long list of companies to lose their customers' information. As is common, they sent out an email to warn poor sods like me who might have had our details snaffled.

Their email is particularly poor and contains a delightful example of how not to communicate issues like this. See if you can spot it:

In the same breath as warning their customers to look out for suspicious links in emails, they include two obfuscated Bit.ly links!

Anyone can create a Bit.ly link and give it any name.

For example - https://bit.ly/TicketMaster-DataSecurity-Incident.

I've written many times before about Bit.ly and why you should not use it. It stops users understanding where they're going, it trains users to ignore what a link says, it exposes your users to unwanted tracking, and it puts your links under the control of a 3rd party.

If you are ever confronted with a Bit.ly link, add a + to the end of it to see its destination - for example https://bit.ly/TU-sign-up+.

Companies need to do much better. Professional crisis communications writers need to understand the Internet and how to foster a culture of security.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/06/the-irony-of-ticketmasters-breach-notification-email/

There are #DataLeaks and then there’s this. A supermassive Mother of all Breaches [#MOAB] includes records from thousands of meticulously compiled and reindexed leaks, breaches, and privately sold databases. The full and searchable list is included at the end of this article.

#LinkedIn, #Twitter, #Weibo, #Tencent, #Bitly, #Foursquare, #TeeSping, #Fox, and many, many, many more ...

@cybernews
https://cybernews.com/security/billions-passwords-credentials-leaked-mother-of-all-breaches/

Seems I’ve gotten to a breaking point with #Bitly, working on standing up my own lil URL shortener

@B2Spirit_TT You do know URL shorteners like #Bitly are pointless on #Mastodon and make you seem less trustworthy by obscuring the destination? Every link uses 23 characters of your post, no more, no less: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/posting/#links:~:text=In%20fact,%20using%20a%20link%20shortener%20is%20actively%20discouraged

Senas hack'as prie gmailo adreso prikabinti +domenasKuriamePaliekuEmaila šiandien užrodė, kad bitly.com duombazė atiduota spameriams.
#bitly #spam

This is a good example of how abuse reports should be handled. Bit.ly has become one of the companies with the fastest response times to these reports.

My last three reports were all handled and taken down within 10 minutes, preventing thousands of people from reaching malicious sites. Only an api or e-mail option, to automate abuse reports, would make this better.

Thanks for the massive improvement in transparency and response time from the previous google forms method of reporting abuse. Keep up the good work!

Bitly finally starts taking privacy seriously

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2020/02/bitly-finally-starts-taking-privacy-seriously/

#bit.ly #bitly #privacy