Are Bitly links bad for email deliverability?

Key findings

• Spam association: Generic URL shorteners, particularly Bitly, are frequently abused by spammers and phishers to obscure the true destination of their links. This historical association makes them inherently risky for legitimate senders.
• Blocklist presence: The domains of popular URL shorteners are often included on various email blacklists and blocklists, which can cause emails containing these links to be rejected or diverted to spam. Understanding how email blacklists actually work is crucial.
• Reputation impact: Mailbox providers view the use of generic shortened links with suspicion, as they can conceal malicious content. This lack of transparency can negatively affect your sender reputation and impact overall deliverability.
• Lack of control: You have no control over the reputation of a generic shared domain. If other users abuse the service, your deliverability can suffer, even if your own practices are clean.

Key considerations

• Avoid generic shorteners: Whenever possible, avoid using common URL shorteners like Bitly or TinyURL in your emails to maintain good deliverability.
• Use branded links: The most effective solution is to use branded short links (e.g., yourcompany.link/xyz) that align with your sending domain. Many URL shortening services offer this as a paid feature. This allows you to build a positive reputation for your own shortened domain.
• Self-hosting options: Consider self-hosting your own URL shortener (e.g., with tools like YOURLS) on your sending domain if a branded solution from a third-party provider is not feasible. This provides full control over your link reputation.
• Educate vendors: If working with third-party vendors, such as ad sales teams, educate them on the deliverability risks of generic short links and advocate for the use of branded alternatives to protect your sender reputation. The impact of non-branded links on open rates should be highlighted.

Key opinions

• Confirmed deliverability issues: Many marketers have observed a direct correlation between including Bitly links and experiencing deliverability problems, including emails being rejected or sent to spam folders.
• Vendor pushback: Ad sales vendors sometimes insist on using Bitly for their own tracking needs, even if it compromises email deliverability. This often stems from a lack of awareness or concern for email deliverability best practices on the vendor's side.
• Limited benefits vs. risks: While Bitly offers click tracking, marketers note that it's often inferior to what an Email Service Provider (ESP) already provides. The benefits of using generic short links are minimal compared to the significant deliverability risks. This is especially true when considering the potential for ESP click tracking and its impact on deliverability.
• Avoiding Gmail clipping: Some clients incorrectly believe Bitly links can prevent Gmail from clipping emails, but this is largely ineffective as ESPs often re-wrap links, potentially creating even longer URLs.

Key considerations

• Advocate for branded links: Insist on using branded short URLs or your own domain for links. This ensures that the link reputation is tied directly to your brand, not a shared, potentially compromised domain. Learn more about the pros and cons of using vanity URLs.
• Prioritize deliverability: Make deliverability a non-negotiable aspect of any third-party partnerships. The short-term convenience of a Bitly link is not worth the long-term damage to your email program. As EasySendy Pro advises, avoid URL shorteners in transactional emails.
• Address underlying issues: If vendors cite complex URLs or tracking as reasons for using Bitly, work with them to find solutions that don't compromise deliverability, such as optimizing their original URLs.
• Control over data: Maintaining your own link infrastructure (e.g., branded short links) gives you more control over your data and tracking, reducing reliance on third-party services that may not prioritize email deliverability.

Key opinions

• Spam and phishing tool: Bitly links are very commonly used by spammers and for phishing attempts, making them highly suspicious to email filters. This widespread abuse leads to a negative reputation for the generic Bitly domain.
• Blocklist inclusion: The generic Bitly domain frequently appears on various email blocklists (or blacklists), leading to mail rejections. This is a direct consequence of its widespread use in abusive campaigns. You can check these blocklists with our blocklist checker.
• Infrastructure fingerprinting: Even smart email filters can 'fingerprint' the underlying infrastructure of generic URL shorteners. This means they can detect and flag emails using these services regardless of the specific shortened link. This is a crucial aspect of understanding your email domain reputation.
• Domain ownership risks: There's a small but non-zero risk that the .ly domain (used by Bitly) could be impacted by external geopolitical or regulatory issues, potentially leading to service disruption, as it is beholden to Libyan law and morality clauses.

Key considerations

• Prioritize domain reputation: Focus on building and maintaining a strong reputation for your own sending domains rather than relying on shared domains that are prone to abuse.
• Invest in branded short links: If short links are essential (e.g., for ad platforms with unwieldy URLs), pay for Bitly's custom URL feature or another service that allows you to use your own domain. These branded URLs are generally not abused and do not carry the same reputation risk as generic ones.
• Consider self-hosting: For maximum control, self-hosting a URL shortener on your own domain (e.g., using open-source tools like YOURLS) is a viable and recommended alternative to third-party generic services. This gives you complete oversight of the link's behavior and reputation.
• Evaluate necessity: Before using any URL shortener, question whether it is truly necessary. Often, an ESP's native tracking links are sufficient and less risky for email deliverability. SMTP2GO provides a good summary of why caution is needed with URL shorteners.

Key findings

• Security vulnerabilities: Shortened URLs can disguise the actual destination, making them a tool for phishing scams and distributing malicious content. This inherent risk makes them suspicious to email security systems.
• Spammer tactics: The use of link shorteners like Bitly is a common technique employed by spammers to hide the true nature of their spam or phishing URLs. This behavior causes filters to treat all such links with suspicion.
• Blocking by platforms: Some email platforms may explicitly block or filter emails containing generic shortened URLs. For example, Gmail is known to dislike Bitly links, potentially causing false positives for spam filtering.
• Bitly's own stance: Even Bitly itself acknowledges that it blocks links when they are flagged as suspect or known to lead to malicious pages, demonstrating the service's vulnerability to abuse. This highlights the importance of understanding how link redirects affect reputation.

Key considerations

• Prioritize transparency: Use full, clear URLs that directly indicate the destination to recipients and email filters. Transparency builds trust and reduces the likelihood of being flagged as spam.
• Branded short links: If URL shortening is essential, invest in a custom branded domain for your short links. This associates the reputation of the shortened URL directly with your own domain, providing more control and credibility. Pay attention to tracking URL subdomain alignment.
• Security implications: Be aware of the potential security vulnerabilities that generic short links pose. While Bitly is legitimate, it can be exploited by bad actors, as discussed by ExpressVPN, and this association can negatively affect your email's reputation.
• Content best practices: Adhere to general email content best practices that promote deliverability, such as avoiding excessive links and ensuring all links are highly relevant to your message and recipient expectations.