A non-standard opt-out keyword is honoured by nobody but you
The requirementstatement
Opt-out keywords outside the standard monitored set are handled by the sending platform alone and must not be relied on as carrier-enforced.
- Severityseverity
- MediumMEDIUMUsually survives review, but lowers your trust score or invites a manual look you would rather avoid.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- campaign.optout_keywords
- Where it liveslayer
- CampaignCAMPAIGN
- How Ekas settles itdetectability
- DeterministicDETERMINISTIC
- Settled in code from the values you submitted. No model involved, no judgement call, same answer every time.
- What the fix involvesfailureClass
- Fix the fieldRETRY_FIELD
- A better value in the form fixes it. Ekas can rewrite it and re-check.
- Who requires itauthorities
- Azure ACSAWS
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies to every 10DLC registration.
Why this rule existsrationale
The standard keywords are intercepted upstream, so they work even when a platform is misconfigured; anything else works only for as long as your own handler does. A programme whose advertised opt-out word is bespoke has a single point of failure between the consumer and their opt-out, and the consumer who used it and kept receiving messages complains to the carrier rather than to you.
How to fix itremediation
Keep the bespoke keyword if your platform answers it, but add the standard words alongside so the opt-out survives a misconfiguration on your side. Done when every keyword you advertise for opting out is either standard or backed by one that is.
A compliant exampleexample
optout_keywords: STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT — not STOPMSGS or NOMORE on their own
Notesnotes
Scoped to the opt-out list rather than to every keyword field, which is what the catalog row names. A non-standard HELP keyword costs a recipient an unanswered question; a non-standard opt-out keyword costs them an opt-out that never happened, and only the second is worth a finding. INFO and SUPPORT as help keywords are normal practice and are deliberately not reported here.
Rules you will hit next
5 other rules read campaign.optout_keywords. Fixing one field to satisfy a single rule is how a resubmission trades one rejection for another, so read these before you change anything.
CMP-187The wider opt-out keyword set is required on some platformsBlockingBLOCKINGMSG-054Universal opt-out keywords must be supported in copy and configurationBlockingBLOCKINGOPS-026The universal opt-out keyword set must be declaredBlockingBLOCKINGOPS-027Opt-out keyword handling must be declared, not assumedBlockingBLOCKINGCON-KW-REVOCATION-SETDeclared opt-out keywords should cover the FCC per-se setHighHIGHCMP-010HELP and STOP replies should fit in a single 160-character segmentMediumMEDIUM
CMP-188 is one of 94 campaign rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.