Link shortener

Only the owner of the organization sees this section, just like Telegram, Amazon and AliExpress.

What gets shortened

Only the product link, with your tag already applied for that channel. The links you add in the header, the footer or the description are published as they are.

With Amazon links, Bitly usually returns an Amazon short link (amzn.to/…) instead of a bit.ly/… one. Bitly decides this, and that link uses up quota in your account like any other.

AliExpress affiliate links (s.click.aliexpress.com/…) are already short, so they are published as they are and use no Bitly quota.

It is shortened as it goes out to the channel, wherever you publish from: with Publish in Create offer, from the Telegram bot, in the queue (also with Publish now) or through automatic publishing (both with Publish now and from manual management).

Until then you see the long link. Neither previews nor the bot's drafts use up Bitly links, and neither do the offers waiting in the queue.

If you use Publish in Create offer to send the offer to several channels with the same link, it is shortened only once. In the queue, on the other hand, each channel has its own message and uses up a link as it goes out. If the send is retried, it reuses the short link from the first attempt and does not use up another.

key Your Bitly keys

The Your Bitly keys card holds the organization's keys. To add one, paste it into Bitly key, give it a Name if you like so you can tell it apart, and press Add key. If you already have one, first expand Add another key.

Before saving it we check it with Bitly, without using up any link. If Bitly rejects it, it is not saved and we tell you why.

Each key shows only its last four characters, together with its status and the date it was checked:

• Works: Bitly accepts it and shortens with it.
• No quota this month: the Bitly account has used the links in its plan. The key moves to the end of the line and is tried again from the 1st of the month (UTC), when Bitly renews the quota. If the others fail, it is tried anyway and goes back to Works as soon as Bitly accepts it.
• Invalid key: Bitly no longer accepts it, for example if you regenerated it there. It stops being used: remove it and add the new one.

To remove a key, press delete next to it and confirm with Remove. If it was the last one, links go back to being published long.

Getting the Bitly key

1. Sign in to your Bitly account and open Settings › Developer settings › API.
2. Enter your Bitly password and press Generate token.
3. Copy the key and paste it into Bitly key.

If you sign in to Bitly with Google, your account may not have a password: create one with Forgot your password? on Bitly's sign-in screen and go back to step 2.

Several keys

You can add more than one key. Each publication uses the next one in turn to spread the quota across your Bitly accounts, leaving those with no quota at the end. If a key uses up its quota or Bitly does not accept it, that same send tries the one after it.

content_cut Shorten links per channel

The Shorten links per channel card has one switch per channel. They come off by default, including for channels you create later. The exception is a channel created with Copy settings from: it keeps the switch of the channel you copy from. Turn on the ones you want and press Save.

Above the list, All channels shortens the links of all your channels at once, including those of channels you create later. While it is on, each channel's switch is shown as on and cannot be changed. If you turn it off, each channel goes back to its previous selection. The setting also takes effect when you press Save.

If you have no key saved, the switches are disabled and the card tells you to add one.

If a link cannot be shortened

A shortener failure never stops you from publishing: the offer goes out with the long link and your affiliate tag.

In the result of the send (in Create offer, with Publish now in the queue or in a search profile, in manual management or in the bot) you will see the notice “It went out with the link not shortened.” next to the reason:

• “Your Bitly keys are out of quota this month.”: add the key of another account or wait for Bitly to renew the quota.
• “Bitly does not accept your keys.”: check their status in Your Bitly keys and replace the ones marked Invalid key.
• “Bitly is not responding.”: a temporary connection problem with Bitly; the next sends will try again.

When the reason is your keys, the notice comes with the See keys button, which opens this section.

The bot also alerts the owner the first time a link goes out unshortened, reminds them at most once a day while it lasts, and sends another message when links go out shortened again, no matter where the post comes from. That way, you stay on top of what goes out from the queue or automatic publishing. For more details, see Notices.

Bitly's limits

Each Bitly account shortens a set number of links per month depending on its plan. The free one includes 5 links per month, according to Bitly's pricing page: it is enough for testing, but it runs out fast if you publish daily.

When an account uses up its quota, its key changes to No quota this month. If no other key with quota is left, links go out long until Bitly renews the monthly counter. The key is tried again from the 1st of the month. To shorten more links, change plan in Bitly or add the key of another account.

Amazon links

Amazon links are shortened too. The Amazon Associates Program rules forbid using shorteners that hide the fact that the link leads to its store, and a Bitly URL does not make that clear by itself.

If you shorten links in a channel where you publish Amazon offers, make sure the store is stated in the message. You can do it with the Store block of the message template. See the requirements in How to Create Your Amazon Affiliate Link.

What the plan says

The shortener is available from the Solo plan. On the free plan, the section appears locked with the notice “Available from the Solo plan” and a link to upgrade. No keys can be added, but you will see the ones you already had in case you want to remove them.

If you drop to the free plan, links stop being shortened in all publications, including those from the queue and automatic publishing. We keep your keys and the state of the switches in case you upgrade again, and you can still remove keys whenever you want.