Bitly

Bitly is a link management platform that shortens URLs and records the clicks they receive. Launched in 2008 and based in New York, it offers click analytics, custom branded short domains, QR codes, and link-in-bio pages, alongside APIs for generating links programmatically.

Marketers use Bitly links across email, SMS, social, and print to keep URLs short and to measure engagement independently of the sending platform's own reporting. Bitly links in an email usually mean click measurement is happening outside the ESP, often because the same links are reused across several channels.