When URL shorteners were first introduced, it gave good opportunity to spammers to disguise malicious links. These days there are number of social media sites and some popular sites like Twitter have promoted the use of shortened URLs and now people are more comfortable clicking through such URLs. But still, it happens many a times when people find themselves in difficult situation because of dubious links. So how to avoid such URLs?
Well first and foremost, it is a good idea to bookmark a URL checker to find out where a particular link points before you actually click it. Another good method is to use URL expanders. Read further to find out about 5 great URL expansion services that will keep all your worries at bay while browsing.
1. Long URL –
This is a great URL service, it not only shows where the shortened link points, but it also rolls out meta keywords and meta description for the content. Thus you get a much better idea before you actually click through the URL. Another feature of Long URL is that it offers a standard API for multiple URL shortening services.
2. Where Does This Link Go –
This is indeed the best service in terms of design and visual appeal. It has the minimalist design. Where does this link go is a very simple solution to the problem of finding out the destination of a disguised link. Although this site returns the basic information, but what is great about this service is that it works well for all the links that are checked on this service.
3. LinkPeelr –
This is another great URL expansion service. What this service does is to ‘peel’ the shortened URLs so that the destination is revealed. Therefore, you can decide whether to click through or not. When used in Chrome, this service reveals the full URL even when you hover over the shortened version.
4. URL X-ray –
This is a pretty good service. Along with the web version, there is also a free bookmarklet that is placed on your browser bar. It does the job of identifying short URLs for you all over the web. This site came into existence from using the social media. On social media sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. the use of shortened URLs is quite prevalent. And while using social media sites one would feel uneasy with these shortened URLs whose destination was not known. So, to solve this problem this site was developed.
5. Sucuri –
Sucuri is a security company that offers a free of cost link-checking service. All you have to do is to go to the site, enter the short URL and you will get the result. This service not only reveals the destination but also runs the link through safe site checkers to keep all your worries at bay.
(Have been liking our posts for a while? Subscribe now! We’ll make sure that you never miss an update.)
I like this web site so much, saved to bookmarks.
I was more than happy to search out this web-site.I wanted to thanks to your time for this glorious read!! I definitely having fun with each little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you weblog post.
Very nice blog post. I certainly appreciate this site. Keep writing!
It’s a good post.
This is a great blog you have here