Bitcoin Forum

Hey BitcoinTalk Users; so i gave it a bit of thought but i wasn't really sure what to think. Are we allowed to use shortened links in our posts. Say i made a really detailed post and i wanted to make a referrence to another site but also wanted to shrink it down to earn something from users who click on my link. Is it allowed? If so, are there some limitations? Because i know people can make posts entirely just to get someone to click their link. But what if i typed my post detailed enough that it deserved to have a shortened link.

URL shorteners are allowed, as long as they don't display ads or add an additional step in any way.
Shorteners you can for example use without worrying are bit.ly and goo.gl

Are we still talking about short-links, or did we make a jump here to talk about referral links?
Because those are a no-go in posts, you can display them in your signature/profile information, but not in (most) posts.

Ok i understand, so url shortners such as adfly and adfocus aren't allowed. I was actually referring to short links like these because people earn for the number of people that click on their link but i think you've made it clear that it should be a smooth transaction to the intended link referrence. CoinUrl has no ads displayed but you have to click a button to go to the intended link, so i would assume that this is "an additional step". Did i get it right?

The unofficial (official) rule states:
"5. No link shortners that requires users to view an ad."
So that could be alright (as long as you absolutely don't get anything that can be even mistaken as an ad).
However, since you're going to make revenue via coinurl (not very familiar with them, but you earn for clicks there, correct?), I can totally see the rule also being enforced on those.
To be honest, I find those kind of shorteners annoying, and I wouldn't advice you to use them/wouldn't use them myself.

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Actually, ignore that, I've checked them out.
They display a text ad, hence are clearly against the rule.

and thats very good rule
Imagine that everybody would be posting refferal links, you won't recognize then real advice/real post from advertisement especially hidden behind url shortener :|

By the rule of thumb - referral links are not allowed, but it's down to the mods to make judgement whether leave/delete your post. The (unofficial?) rules only say something like "no referral link spam" iirc.

The only chance you could get the mods to turn the blind eye on your ref link is:

a) create constructive, interesting topic, not something clearly created just to sneak in the ref link
b) be transparent about it, don't hide it under shorteners and provide 'clean' link option along the ref link.

Why not to post direct links? I often see that under url shortener people hide referral links (what is not allowed here). Also, it's risky to click these links, because we don't know what can be hidden under it.

Is it legal? Does anyone here did this? I think its against the rule because its still a refferal link.

Bro There URL Shortners are Accepted But Don't Use the URL Shortners Which Contains Ads Or a Little Task to Perform Before Going to Orginial Page...
You can Use URL Shortners which will Land the User On the Original Content Page Directly.....

Exactly.  Use the shorteners like [Suspicious link removed] or [Suspicious link removed] that will take the reader to the original page.  Keep it clean bro....

No, it is not allowed because it must be clear what the target site is when clicking on a link. If it would not be clear, it would be very easy to link to a virus-infected site or to some other illegal stuff.

The URL Shorteners that show ads aren't allowed, because it's against the forum's rules, but you can use the shortener like goo.gl for example.

I think that any URL shortener should not be allowed because we don't know where the link lead us. It must be allowed only when a trusted member tests the link and gives green signal then it should be posted otherwise you should post the original link.

P.S : I think it is allowed and mostly people use the shortener to track the clicks .

There is trusted Shortener like goo.gl and bit.ly not showing any ads , and people use it to track the clicks and visits usually.

I am not talking about ads here, They can contain malicious link.