Amzn.to links are down and that's unusual

Just now I noticed that Amzn.to links are down. Amzn.to links are those links that are created by Amazon's own link shortener for Amazon affiliate links.

I couldn't believe it because Amazon is like a big deal. So why would their links be down?

I had a check around and I even went to Down For Everyone Or Just Me to see if the Amzn.to links were down. They were.

Look here. The link creator will only create long links when Amzn.to is down, even when "Short Link" is selected.

Amazon's SiteStripe affiliate link creator is aware of when Amzn.to links are down

Something I found interesting during this down time for Amzn.to links was that while the shortened links weren't functioning, I could use the SiteStripe toolbar to create an affiliate link for Amazon and it would only create the regular long, unshortened links. In other words, when "Short Link" is selected to create a link, only Amazon's long links will be created during times when Amzn.to is down. That is pretty clever of Amazon to do that. 

Does it even make sense to use Amzn.to links?

This got me wondering if it makes sense to use links shortened with Amzn.to. 

I think when links have to be typed out it makes a lot of sense to have a shortened link. But I'd guess that most of the Amzn.to links that I see around the web and in the descriptions of YouTube videos don't get typed out and are simply clicked on. 

I can think of some reasons why it might be a good idea not to use Amzn.to links:

  • Amzn.to links might go down when the regular Amazon.com domain won't.
    I'm not sure if this is true or not, but if the Amazon.com domain is down less often, it might be a good idea to use it
  • Amazon.com links are probably more recognizable to some as the Amazon brand than the Amzn.to links are
    People who don't recognize amzn.to as Amazon might avoid clicking those shortened links
  • Long Amazon.com affiliate links are bigger and might be more likely to grab a person's attention than the shorter links
    Big things are easier to see and they capture more attention, right? There are times when space is limited though, like on Twitter, but maybe it's a good idea to use the long Amazon links because they are more likely to be seen
  • Amzn.to links might be seen as spammy to some
    I think that affiliate marketers have become accustomed to using the shortened Amzn.to links and, maybe, regular folks have become accustomed to seeing these Amzn.to links being used by marketers and spammers. Maybe some people have become wary of the amzn.to links.
  • Amzn.to links might seem spammy to search engines
    Could it be the case that search engines consider the amzn.to domain to be a "spammy" domain? 

Those are my thoughts on Amzn.to links. I really hadn't given it any thought until just 10 minutes ago when I found that Amzn.to links were down. 

I am really considering not using Amzn.to links anymore. I think I've come up with some reaons above why it might be better not to.

What do you think? Do Amzn.to links seem spammy? Is the risk that Amzn.to links would go down a good reason to use the regular Amazon.com domain for affiliate links? Are there benefits to having really long affiliate links that make it easier for people to see them and click them? Is there benefit in using the non-shortened affiliate links because the Amazon.com domain is more recognizable? Can amzn.to links be bad for SEO?