Product Update- Google Discontinues Support for Shortened URLs in RCS
12 days ago by P. Lakshmi Swati Patro (lapatro)
What’s Changing?
This is to inform you that Google has decided to discontinue support for shortened or redirected URLs in media file fields within RCS messages. This update is part of Google’s efforts to enhance link transparency and media reliability in RCS. This change was first announced on March 25th and is expected to come into effect within 30 days of the announcement.
Impact of This Change
- Shortened URLs (e.g., bit.ly, tinyurl, branded shortened URLs, etc.) will no longer be supported in media URL fields and thumbnail URL fields.
| Content Type | Field Name not supported in API | Field Names not supported in Template | Field names not supported in Send Node |
|---|---|---|---|
| File | Mediacontenturl | Media URL | Media URL |
| Rich card | URL fields under Media and Thumbnail block | Media URL and Thumbnail URL | Media URL and Thumbnail url |
| Carousel | URL fields under Media and Thumbnail block in all cards | Media URL and Thumbnail URL in all cards | Media URL and Thumbnail URL in all cards |
- However, shortened URLs will still be allowed in the text content of the message.
Ex: In a text message, a shortened URL can be included as below:
{
"text": "Check out our latest offer: https://bit.ly/wx-connect"
}
Action Required
We recommend you ensure all media and thumbnail URLs in your RCS messages sent to Webex Connect are direct URLs (i.e., fully resolved links without redirection or shortening) to avoid any message delivery failures or rejections. Webex Connect will not be validating whether a URL is shortened or redirected.
If you have any questions, please contact our support team.