Link Shortening Service

Description

The functionality of the service:

• replacing long links in the message text with short ones;

• link matching storage;

• redirecting from a short link to a long one;

• collecting traffic statistics.

This service is provided by the Service Provider upon request from the Partner (see Service Setup).

After the Service Provider has configured the Service, all received links in the message text will be shortened by default in accordance with the specified settings.

If necessary, this setting can also be controlled using the optional shortenLinks parameters for single messages and shorten_list for cascading messages (see Request Parameters).

If the service is configured and the parameter is not sent, the link will be shortened by default. The same applies to links passed in cascading messages.

The link is shortened using the domain http://kr4.me.

Links are shortened for the following types of messages:

• SMS (see Request Parameters);

• Viber (see Request Parameters);

• Push (see Request Parameters);

• VK (see Request Parameters);

• WhatsApp (see Request Parameters).

Service Operation

1. When a long link is detected in the message, a new link is formed - the domain http://kr4.me/ is inserted at the beginning of the new link and a unique UID is added, which length can be from 3 to 8 characters. An example of a link after an abbreviation: http://kr4.me/EQiCREB.

2. After the messages are delivered, when subscribers click on a short link, the link shortening service will identify the corresponding long link and redirect.

3. Clicks on each link will be recorded in the Platform statistics.

Service Setup

To enable the service, the following data must be provided to the Technical Support:

• the number of characters after which the link must be shortened. For example, if the link is shortened by more than 26 characters, then the link https://rapporto.ru/ will be transmitted to the subscriber unchanged, and the link https://rapporto.ru/company/o_platforme_rapporto/ will be shortened, for example http://kr4.me/QEiCRE/;

• the number of characters in the UID that is added after the domain. This parameter affects the number of unique links that can be generated. For example, with a length of UID = 8 characters, about 281 trillion unique links can be generated;

• to clarify the necessity for forming of unique links for each subscriber. This parameter affects the traffic statistics. In the case of a single link, the total traffic statistics for all subscribers will be shown;

• the number of days after which an inactive link is deleted if there were no clicks on it;

• link lifetime is the number of days after which an inactive link is deleted, even if there were clicks on it.

Shortening Links when Sending Cascading Messages

If cascading messages are configured for the HTTP client, and if link shortening is enabled for the Partner, then the shorten_list parameter is used to control link shortening for messages (see Request Parameters).

Possible options for sendig the shorten_list parameter:

• the parameter is not sent in the request – links in all types of messages will be shortened by default;

• the parameter is sent with an empty value – link shortening is canceled for all types of messages;

• the parameter is sent in the request and the value is not empty – links are shortened only in those types of messages that are specified in the parameter value.