Public URL shorteners are prohibited in every registration field
The requirementstatement
No public URL shortener may appear in the description, message flow, samples, HELP reply, or either confirmation message.
- Severityseverity
- BlockingBLOCKINGBreaking this rule gets the submission rejected. There is no partial credit.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- campaign.* (every text field)
- Where it liveslayer
- Message contentMESSAGE_CONTENT
- 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
- CTIATCRTwilioBandwidthAWS
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies to every 10DLC registration.
Why this rule existsrationale
Shorteners hide the destination, so carriers cannot assess where a message leads and block them categorically. Tools typically check only the sample messages, but the prohibition covers every field — a shortener in the HELP reply or the opt-in confirmation is rejected exactly the same way.
How to fix itremediation
Replace every shortened link with the full URL on your own domain. Note the two Twilio generations disagree on whether this is fixable — assume the strict reading, where it is not resubmittable.
A compliant exampleexample
https://acmecoffee.com/sale rather than https://bit.ly/3xY2z
Provider rejection codescodes
The code you get back when this rule is what failed, and whether that provider lets you resubmit.
| Provider | Code | Resubmit |
|---|---|---|
| Twiliogen1 | 30892 | Yes |
| Twiliogen2 | 30963 | No |
| Bandwidth | 8201 | Yes |
Rules you will hit next
Other message content rules at the same severity. A registration is judged as a whole, not rule by rule.
MSG-008Opt-in confirmation must be 20–255 charactersBlockingBLOCKINGMSG-009HELP reply must be 20–255 charactersBlockingBLOCKINGMSG-011Opt-out confirmation must be 20–255 charactersBlockingBLOCKINGMSG-018An MMS campaign must attach at least one sample media fileBlockingBLOCKINGMSG-019Each MMS sample file must sit under its per-type size ceilingBlockingBLOCKINGMSG-031Sample messages must be in EnglishBlockingBLOCKING
MSG-088 is one of 122 message content rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.