URL redirection

URL redirection, also called URL forwarding, is a World Wide Web technique for making a web page available under more than one URL address. When a web browser attempts to open a URL that has been redirected, a page with a different URL is opened. Similarly, domain redirection or domain forwarding is when all pages in a URL domain are redirected to a different domain, as when wikipedia.com and wikipedia.net are automatically redirected to wikipedia.org.

URL redirection is done for various reasons:

• for URL shortening;
• to prevent broken links when web pages are moved;
• to allow multiple domain names belonging to the same owner to refer to a single web site;
• to guide navigation into and out of a website;
• for privacy protection (such as redirecting YouTube and Twitter links to Invidious and Nitter respectively or to turn AMP links into normal links); and
• for hostile purposes such as phishing attacks or malware distribution.