Scaling an eSIM campaign is not in any way complicated, especially for experienced marketers, but ad platforms often prove to be the real challenge. Your ad campaign would have passed review, campaigns would already be live, and you’ve started gaining clicks, impressions, and conversions, only for you to wake up one morning to find that your ad has been flagged and shut down.

The reason this happens is that ad platforms don’t have clear classifications for eSIMs. eSIMs are classified as high-risk digital goods and exist in a gray zone between telecom, digital goods, and financial services. Also, this delayed flagging often happens because platforms don’t fully evaluate high-risk digital products until spend and visibility start to rise.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the reasons eSIM ads get flagged, and how marketers can create compliant eSIM ads for their campaigns.

The Common Failure Pattern Marketers Experience

You create an ad for eSIMs, and it gets approved. With performance looking amazing, you increase the ad budget and look to scale even further. All of a sudden, everything breaks, and your dashboard shows multiple policy violation warnings.

You haven’t changed anything about your campaign, but your ads stay stuck in review, and the appeals don’t help you get it resolved. If you have run eSIM ads for more than a couple of weeks, you’ll be painfully familiar with this scenario.

Interestingly, this does not happen because you have done anything wrong. This is a structural flaw with most ad platforms. Once you try to raise your spend or reach new regions, Google and Facebook ads re-trigger automated review systems. And then manual reviewers take over and classify your ads as high-risk digital goods.

Why Platforms Treat eSIMs as “High-Risk Digital Goods”

Considering recent industry propagation of eSIMs and comprehensive review systems on ads, one would ask why platforms continue to treat eSIMs as high-risk digital products. The reason is that platforms classify products based on what they are, and not how responsibly you sell them.

For these platforms, eSIMs inherit risk from industries like VPNs, proxy services, and anonymous connectivity tools. These are industries that have been abused by bad actors over the years, so eSIMs are guilty by association.

Here’s how platforms assess risk:

• Digital delivery: When dealing with digital products, it becomes harder to process refunds and chargebacks, and even harder to police fraud.

• Instant activation: “Buy and use immediately” products trigger risk flags on several ad platforms due to the risk of abuse.

• Cross-border usage: eSIMs can be used across countries, which raises ad compliance issues because different countries have different laws on telecoms, data, and consumer protection. As such, platforms are wary of enabling unlicensed telecom activity, or any other illegal activity arising from its use.

• Telecom adjacency: Telecom services are regulated differently across countries, and ad platforms pay particular attention to this in eSIM ads. Ad platforms are legally exposed if they promote services that appear to be regulated telecom products, especially when they cannot confirm that it’s a licensed digital product.

The Most Common Reasons eSIM Ads Get Rejected

Ad rejections are not random; they follow predictable patterns that experienced marketers have learned to work around. Here are some of the biggest triggers:

• Policy-sensitive Language: Ad platforms filter for specific words and tones that might trigger automated risk filters. Words like “unlimited data, “no restrictions,” and “works everywhere” are typical vocabulary for eSIMs but can be flagged as bold or absolutist claims. Platforms don’t let statements like that fly if they are not verifiable.

As such, it’s important for eSIM brands to write copy that explains how their product works. A copy saying “No SIM needed” could sound like you’re speaking on device hacking.

• Landing Page Issues: Sometimes the eSIM ad itself looks compliant, but it’s what’s on the landing page that causes ad rejections. Ad platforms evaluate the full user journey, starting from what their users see after they click. The common issue with landing pages is an unclear product explanation.

Considering eSIMs are classified as high-risk digital products, it would help to properly explain how your eSIM product works on your landing page. Other key things to note include visible business information with contact support, a refund or cancellation policy, and no overstated performance claims. The main point here is to ensure that your eSIM landing page educates, clarifies, and reassures.

• Creative-Level Problem: While several eSIM ads are getting rejected because of landing page issues or policy-sensitive languages, you’ll find those rejected because they don’t present products well. For example, if an eSIM ad features visuals of traditional SIM cards instead of a QR code or an app-based image, it raises questions about clarification.

How to Structure Compliant eSIM Ad Copy

eSIM ads already fall under “high-risk digital goods,” so there’s even more reason to structure a compliant ad to avoid being flagged. Ad platforms scrutinize eSIM ads to make sure they’re not advertising anything that could be harmful to users. Here are some pointers to help you create compliant eSIM copies for your brand.

The main thing is to know what and what not to say in your copy. It’s important to use language that describes your product without exaggeration. This includes describing your eSIM product and clarifying that it’s a virtual service, not a physical one. Other supporting informating can include stating compatible devices and providing instructions for activation after purchase.

And what to avoid saying includes absolute claims, urgency-driven statements, like “buy now before it’s gone,” as they can resemble high-pressure, scam tactics used by bad actors.

Scaling Without Triggering Rejections

Despite the issues already raised in this article, most eSIM ads still run smoothly at initial testing. Many rejections often occur when the budget is increased or brands look to expand their ads into a new market. Spend and expansion are the common triggers for eSIM ads, but here are some of the best practices for scaling safely:

• Instead of doubling ortriplingg budgets overnight, increase ad budgets in controlled increments
• Ensure consistent themes across the copy, visuals, and tone across all ads. Significant changes to ads theme can trigger a review.
• When making changes to your landing pages, ensure you don’t remove required compliance elements, such as educational content, FAQs, etc.
• Have at least one approved ad running so it can serve as a reference to your clean record when ad platforms conduct reviews.

Should you face ad rejections however, it’s important not to panic and make things worse. Experienced marketers look to resolve rejection issues without triggering account-level risk. Here are the best ways to appeal effectively:

• Treat your appeal as a clarification request and not a dispute.
• Assume that the review has little to no knowledge of what an eSIM is, and explain the product in clear terms.
• Reference relevant digital goods policy sections and highlight how your ad complies.
• Emphasize how your ads, copy, and landing page prioritize transparency by clearly stating refund terms, limitations, and supported devices.

eSIM Ads Can Scale, If You Build Long-Term Compliance Strategy

The mistake most marketers make is believing compliance is something to address only after ads are rejected. This mindset is terrible for growth. Successful teams create a clear ad compliance checklist and an approved phrasing document to ensure that copies cover all necessary details and include the required trust signals.

Ad compliance only needs to be treated as a part of growth operations. The key takeaway for marketers is to respect the rules across the various ad platforms. If you’re looking to scale your eSIM venture beyond paid ads, Limitflex provides white-label eSIM solutions that get you set up quickly. Reach out to us at hello@limitflex.com.