[xp84]

Goo.gl was a terrible idea in the first place because it lends Google's apparent legitimacy (in the eyes of the average "noob") to unmoderated content that could be malicious. That's probably why they at least stopped allowing new ones to be made. By allowing old ones, they can't rule out the Google brand being used to scam and phish.

e.g. Imagine SMS or email saying "We've received your request to delete your Google account effective (insert 1 hour's time). To cancel your request, just click here and log into your account: https://goo.gl/ASDFjkl

This was a very popular strategy for phishing and it's still possible if you can find old links that go to hosts that are NXDOMAIN and unregistered, of which there are no doubt millions.

[NewJazz]

Yeah I'm pretty sure this is the main reason google is shutting the service down. They don't want their brand tainted by phishing attempts.

[dundarious]

This reputational risk argument makes sense. The post I was replying to seemed to be making a flawed argument about capabilities.