Link rot, also known as link decay or reference rot, is the phenomenon where hyperlinks gradually stop working over time because the destination pages are moved, deleted, or restructured. Studies have found that approximately 25 percent of web links become broken within a few years, making link rot one of the most persistent challenges of the web.
Link rot affects every corner of the internet, from academic citations and legal references to social media posts and marketing materials. A Harvard Law School study found that 49 percent of URLs cited in Supreme Court opinions no longer work. The problem is particularly acute for short URLs, which add an additional point of failure: if the shortening service shuts down, all links created through it become instantly broken. Digital preservation books on Amazon discuss the broader implications.
URL shortening services can both contribute to and mitigate link rot. They contribute when the service itself becomes unavailable. They mitigate it by providing a layer of indirection: if a destination URL changes, the short URL's redirect target can be updated without breaking the short URL itself.
Strategies for combating link rot include using established, reliable shortening services, regularly monitoring link health, implementing fallback pages for expired links, and archiving important destination pages. Web maintenance books on Amazon cover monitoring approaches.