“We won’t sugar-coat it – we received lots of pushback”: Strava restores old URL links after backlash – as social fitness giant says controversial policy stopped spam problem “getting out of control”

Strava has announced that it is restoring old URL links in posts on the social fitness platform, admitting that it received “lots of pushback” against last year’s controversial decision, which it claims was necessary to tackle the rise in spam attacks and “fraudulent and misleading content” on the app.

The online fitness giant says that since the move, which was partially reversed in March when users were once again allowed to share new links, the rate of spam posted on the platform has fallen to just 0.003 per cent of all link, thanks to the implementation of effective “spam detection services”.

Last October, Strava took the decision to stop users sharing links and to delete all old ones to tackle “a wave of harmful spam attacks” that required “certain necessary steps to safeguard the community”.

That confirmation came after users had seen URLs automatically removed from posts over a couple of weeks that autumn, existing uploads showing a ‘This content is not available’ message [below], with the app subsequently explaining it was all part of its new policy to address a “sustained campaign of inauthentic content posted to the platform”.

The move was met with frustration from many users, who complained the policy made the app experience worse for those who wanted to share links, whether that be to an event or race page, results list, sportive sign-up, charity fundraiser, club page on social media, personal social media account, YouTube video, or the numerous other things someone may wish to share with their Strava followers.

Deleting all links from existing posts – especially those to charity pages – was branded “inappropriate, rash, and incompetent” by one upset user, among the many who wrote on Strava’s Community Hub to claim that the policy would signal the end of their subscription.

In March, Strava took its first steps to mollify this outpouring of discontent, by performing a partial U-turn and allowing users to share new URL links on their activities, profile, in clubs and on event pages, with admins of ‘Verified Clubs’ also able to share links in their club posts.

The app told road.cc that its spam detection and prevention systems had since seen “significant improvements” and it was once again comfortable restoring users’ ability to post URLs. However, Strava insisted at the time that the old links deleted in October would not be restored.

But in a statement published online this week, Strava has announced that these old links will finally return, after the platform’s anti-spam campaign proved extremely successful. That means any links posted on both Strava’s mobile and web apps before 3 March 2025 will now be visible again.

Meanwhile, the company confirmed that anyone with a Strava account can once again add links to their athlete profile and activity descriptions, and ‘Verified Club’ admins can add links to club post descriptions, club descriptions, and events pages.

In the post, the app recognised that “no one” was happy with the initial decision made back in October, but insisted that it “was best for the product and community in the long term”.

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“When we removed link capabilities last October – we won’t sugar-coat it – we received lots of pushback from our community. To be transparent, we wanted to explain what led to that decision, and why we’re able to reverse it now,” Strava said.

“Starting in September 2024, we noticed a big uptick in the rate of spam links being shared on Strava – and that the scams they often linked to were increasing in frequency and sophistication.

“Nationwide, the FBI reported a 33 per cent increase in reports of online scams, including on social platforms. On Strava specifically, we saw a huge uptick: In the first half of the year, only about 0.002 per cent of links were spam – about as good a rate as we could hope for – but in September, that figure rose over 500x.”

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It continued: “Our number one goal is helping people to live their best active lives, and all that spam degrades the product, interrupts your experience, and subjects you to unwanted junk – ultimately, getting in the way of you finding motivation and getting out there.

“To prevent the problem from getting out of control, we disabled links while we developed a way to better stay ahead of it.

“And between October and now, we’ve done just that, implementing spam detection services that can better detect spam and quickly remove it before it spreads to our community. (Think of it like the model we use to remove impossible efforts from leaderboards – it’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than what we had before.) 

“To test it out, we re-allowed new links on some surfaces in March (many of you noticed!). And we’re thrilled to report the rate of spam posted has fallen below its pre-surge levels to just 0.003 per cent of links.

“Given these new tools and results, we’re confident we can restore previous-posted links in most surfaces across the platform.

“We recognise not everyone (who are we kidding – no one) was happy with our decision to temporarily disable links, but we believe it was best for the product and community in the long term, and hope being transparent about it helps keep your trust in us – that’s the most important thing.”

In November last year, just a month after initially deleting the links, Strava also announced changes to its API Agreement that would not allow other platforms to display users’ data publicly, meaning cyclists won’t be able to use apps like VeloViewer or coaching platforms like Intervals.icu to share their ride or other activity data with anyone else.