Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This video will show you how to find where a short link (such as a bit.ly link, or goo.gl link) will lead you, without having to go to the page it links to.
Short links can be really useful, as they can make links short, but they can also be used for evil, by disguising where the link leads. Many scammers use this by making a link seem like it goes somewhere you would want to go, and then bringing you to an advertisement page, or potentially virus/malware/phishing etc page.
Luckily, it is very easy to find where the link will take you too, as well as some cool statistics for the link (amount of clicks and timeline) without having to go to the page. Then, once you've decided it's safe, you can go to where it was pointing you.
Basically, just copy the short link, paste it into the url bar, and then add a + to the end of it. This works for almost all short link generators, and definitely all the reputable ones.
Pewdiepie's video that I mentioned in this video can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=RCy281yQui4
Basically, he was mostly giving Youtube flak for their poor commenting system, but he briefly mentions the short link issue. It is a big deal, because these spam comments exist because the people posting them are making money off of them. If people stopped clicking them, then the spammers would cease to make money, and then would stop posting spam, because they wouldn't have a reason to. This would definitely help make the Youtube comments a better place.
So, don't click short links, unless you know where they go, or they are from someone you trust. Report/dislike any comments you find that have spam short links.
Check out my facebook at: facebook.com/pages/All-How-2s/198429346974010
or my twitter: twitter.com/AllHow2s
Or my website where I have a lot of other great tutorials (such as how to take a screenshot, or how to get the start button back on Windows 8): allhow2s.com
This video will show you how to find where a short link (such as a bit.ly link, or goo.gl link) will lead you, without having to go to the page it links to.
Short links can be really useful, as they can make links short, but they can also be used for evil, by disguising where the link leads. Many scammers use this by making a link seem like it goes somewhere you would want to go, and then bringing you to an advertisement page, or potentially virus/malware/phishing etc page.
Luckily, it is very easy to find where the link will take you too, as well as some cool statistics for the link (amount of clicks and timeline) without having to go to the page. Then, once you've decided it's safe, you can go to where it was pointing you.
Basically, just copy the short link, paste it into the url bar, and then add a + to the end of it. This works for almost all short link generators, and definitely all the reputable ones.
Pewdiepie's video that I mentioned in this video can be found here: youtube.com/watch?v=RCy281yQui4
Basically, he was mostly giving Youtube flak for their poor commenting system, but he briefly mentions the short link issue. It is a big deal, because these spam comments exist because the people posting them are making money off of them. If people stopped clicking them, then the spammers would cease to make money, and then would stop posting spam, because they wouldn't have a reason to. This would definitely help make the Youtube comments a better place.
So, don't click short links, unless you know where they go, or they are from someone you trust. Report/dislike any comments you find that have spam short links.
Check out my facebook at: facebook.com/pages/All-How-2s/198429346974010
or my twitter: twitter.com/AllHow2s
Or my website where I have a lot of other great tutorials (such as how to take a screenshot, or how to get the start button back on Windows 8): allhow2s.com
