What it is
Follows the sequence of HTTP redirects from the URL you entered to wherever it finally lands. Redirects happen for normalisation, HTTPS enforcement, link shorteners, and sites that have moved.
Why it matters
Every hop costs a round trip, so long chains hurt both performance and SEO. They matter for security too: an unencrypted hop in the middle is a window for interception, and an unexpected intermediate domain can reveal a shortener, a tracker, or an acquisition nobody announced.