If you're talking about clickable URLs, I agree with you. But shortened URLs are incredibly useful in non-clickable environments such as posters, where you need

If you're talking about clickable URLs, I agree with you. But shortened URLs are incredibly useful in non-clickable environments such as posters, where you need a memorable address. (Example: My department recently organized a scientific conference. The info&registration page was hidden six layers deep on the university website, but we still needed to put the link to it on the advertising poster. In that scenario, a shortened URL (with a QR code) was a sensible solution.)