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Bitly
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<p>Bitly is a <a href="/facts/URL_shortening/r4kpVuNl">URL shortening</a> service and a link management platform. The company Bitly, Inc. was established in 2008. It is <a href="/facts/Privately_held/B4wdkyJX">privately held</a> and based in New York City. Bitly shortens 600 million links per month, for use in <a href="/facts/Social_networking_service/qFIh6VT1">social networking</a>, <a href="/facts/SMS/kacRfW0X">SMS</a>, and email. Bitly makes money by charging for access to aggregate data created as a result of many people using the shortened URLs. </p><p>In 2017, Spectrum Equity acquired a majority stake in Bitly for $64 million. </p><p>From November 2023, short links cannot be created anymore by guest users, requiring users to create an account. </p>