Deleted this post because I don't think a random screenshot from my email is a good source for people to refer to. A better source might be the bitly terms of service: https://bitly.com/pages/terms-of-service (1.4 Destination Preview)
> "Bitly is now using ads on free accounts to continue delivering free plans at no cost to our users. As part of the update, we introduced an interstitial page that includes a preview of the link destination and an ad. If you prefer an ad-free experience, you can upgrade to one of our paid plans here." :
Using a gerund is a touch false. The evidence provided is a change in the ToS from bitly:
Upcoming changes to our Terms
of Service
We are making some adjustments to our Terms of Service
and Privacy Policy that will affect you as a user of Bitly's
free plan.
Beginning in the next month, when your audience interacts
with your Bitly links or QR Codes, they may see a preview
page prior to being directed to the destination URL. The
page includes information about the link destination and
may include advertising.
As a free Bitly user, you can remove the preview page
experience from your links and QR Codes at any time by
selecting a paid Bitly plan.
when a service is free or too cheap to be economically viable, they’re just trying to get a huge userbase, get rid of the competition and then when they’re a monopoly or almost one they raise prices or do something to become profitable.
of course there’s exceptions like with mom and pop ventures but big companies will get ‘sponsored’ (invested in) by already very rich venture capitals or oil rich countries like the UAE and in return for a big stake in the company they get a certain amount of money to ‘blow’ on getting new users.
