This is a first for me.
I use URL shorteners quite a bit in my work and this is the first time I’ve seen a URL refuse to be shortened. As in, the shortener said it could not do it. Google’s shortener no less.
For those unaware a URL shortener turns a link such as http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/ into a shorter one like http://goo.gl/FVPzlT. Both links take you to the same place but in articles and emails and such the shorter one is not so hard to read (well…the SDMB URL is not bad but some can be quite lengthy).
So try http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/03/21/ncaa-tournament-sweet-16-buddy-hield-kansas-maryland
Then go to https://goo.gl/ (Google’s shortener) and paste that SI URL just above and try to shorten it. You get a message that says the URL cannot be shortened.
Note that you CAN shorten that URL using Bitly and it returns a vanity shortened URL (in this case http://on.si.com/1RhEBMV).
This amazes me. I can’t believe Google would capitulate to someone on something like this. What’s more I can find no info on the internet about either Sports Illustrated or others being able to do this. That is also a first for me.
Is my PC broken or is something else going on?