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Terence Eden’s Blog

Never use a URL shortening service - even if you own it

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Screenshot showing a 404 error on the Guardian's website.

The Guardian launched its online adventures back in 1999. At some point, they started using the name "Guardian Unlimited". Hey, the dot com boom made us all do crazy things! As part of that branding, they proudly used the domain GU.com Over time, the branding faded and GU.com became a URL shortening service. Tiny URls like gu.com/abc could be printed in papers, sent via SMS, or posted on Twitter. They made a huge fanfare about how it would help with analytics. You can read some of the history …

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QR Codes In Paris

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I've just come back from a delightful weekend in Paris. Delightful for me - not so for my wife. Rather than quietly admiring the artwork in the Louvre, I ran around gawping at the huge range of 2D codes on offer on the streets of Paris. There are some great examples of how to do 2D code marketing - and how not to do it. I'd like to run you through a few of examples I found. I've enhanced the photos to make the codes a bit more obvious - that should make scanning them easier. QR QR Codes…

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