LINE's monthly active users in Taiwan have reached a new high of 21 million. This number demonstrates that LINE has deeply integrated into the daily lives of Taiwanese users, whether for communication, payments, entertainment, or work. Its success lies in its high penetration rate in Taiwan. While LINE's total users in Japan amount to 92 million, the density of LINE users in Taiwan is higher. This means that 9 out of 10 people in Taiwan use LINE, a unique statistic globally (Business of Apps). LINE's high usage rate in Taiwan also drives its global leadership in various functionalities, making it a multi-functional lifestyle platform for Taiwanese users.
LINE offers enormous potential as a marketing tool, but understanding its rules and restrictions is essential before launching marketing campaigns. This article summarizes key insights from our technical team's testing and experiments regarding LINE's "potential" rules and limitations. Note that these rules are not fixed; LINE Corporation may adjust them at any time, so stay informed.
As Peter Drucker said, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Understanding and adhering to platform rules is crucial for successful LINE marketing. LINE has implemented various rules to balance user experience with business interests, including message frequency limits, content review mechanisms, and privacy protection requirements.
In Taiwan, LINE's 21 million monthly active users showcase its significant marketing potential. However, marketers must understand LINE's terms and policies to ensure effective and compliant campaigns. Specifically, LINE has strict advertising content reviews to protect users from spam.
Moreover, LINE limits the frequency of marketing messages to avoid disturbing users excessively. For instance, each account can send only a limited number of promotional messages daily. Exceeding this limit could result in temporary account suspension. These measures help maintain user goodwill and the platform's overall health.
Understanding and complying with these rules and restrictions is critical for effective LINE marketing. As Albert Einstein said, "Knowledge is limited, but imagination embraces the entire world." Preparing thoroughly and understanding LINE's rules can make your campaigns more efficient and successful. While LINE offers immense marketing potential, marketers must carefully follow its rules to maximize its value and achieve better outcomes.
When LINE's restrictions are triggered (when LINE deems your behavior abnormal), certain features of your account may be temporarily suspended.
If LINE temporarily limits your account's features, the restriction period may be extended if the triggering actions continue. For instance, exceeding the friend addition limit but repeatedly searching for friends could prolong the restriction period.
If LINE displays a warning popup indicating abnormal activity, and you do not cease the triggering actions, LINE may permanently limit certain features of your account or suspend it entirely. If you cannot log in again, it means your account has been suspended.
Please note the following restrictions and plan your friend search and addition activities reasonably to avoid account feature limitations affecting daily use.
When searching for friends, if there are about 4 consecutive errors, common causes include: (1) The LINE ID or mobile phone number being searched is not registered with a LINE account. (2) The account's privacy settings have disabled the "Allow adding friends via ID" option.
At this point, LINE will prompt, "You have exceeded the allowable number of search attempts," and temporarily restrict the search feature for about 1 hour. Repeated violations will extend the restriction period cumulatively.
If search errors exceed approximately 50 times in one day, even entering the correct ID afterward will still result in restricted friend searches. First violation: Search feature locked for about 1 hour. Multiple violations: Search feature locked for about 1 day.
From the same IP address, you can search for a maximum of about 49 friends within 1 hour. Exceeding this limit will prevent further searches.
Adding about 300 friends consecutively may trigger a temporary "soft block" on the friend search feature, restricting the functionality. This restriction typically resolves automatically after approximately 7 days.
When adding friends, after adding about 10 friends (either consecutively or non-consecutively) within an hour, a numeric verification code will appear. To avoid this, limit friend additions to no more than 9 per hour. In theory, a single account can add approximately 216 friends per day.
According to feedback from users, LINE accounts created in different regions may have restrictions on adding friends from other regions. Please verify your account registration method and regional settings to avoid limitations.
LINE accounts created in regions such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia cannot add LINE accounts registered in Taiwan as friends.
To add friends from Taiwan, you must use a LINE account created in Taiwan to complete the process successfully.
This restriction applies only to LINE accounts registered via mobile phone numbers. LINE accounts created using Facebook, Google, or other methods are not affected by this restriction.
[Specific Case] Frequent modifications to a LINE account's name or status message, or excessively long status messages, may "potentially" lead to restrictions on the friend search feature.
This is a soft block, typically resolved after approximately 7 days, but repeated failures may cumulatively extend the restriction period.
When attempting to log into the desktop version, the following message may appear: "Login restricted due to too many failed attempts from the same IP address."
This is a soft block, typically resolved after about 1 hour, but repeated failures may cumulatively extend the restriction period.
If an account is blocked by LINE, the mobile number, device IMEI, and email address used to register the account will be blacklisted by LINE, permanently preventing the creation of a new LINE account using the same information.
LINE allows forwarding of up to about 20 messages at a time. The mobile app can forward messages to a maximum of about 10 friends, while the desktop version allows forwarding to only one friend at a time.
In LINE groups, if you cancel invitations for users who have not yet joined the group repeatedly within 1 hour, and the cancellations reach a certain unspecified number, LINE will automatically block the account. The desktop version will log out automatically, and re-login will not be possible. This is a soft block, typically resolved after about 24 hours.
When sending group messages from a LINE official account, pay attention to the following limits and regulations:
Each LINE account within a LINE official account has daily restrictions on the number and speed of messages sent. Exceeding these limits may result in temporary suspension of the sending feature for that account.
Sending more than about 17 messages within 1 minute triggers a warning and may temporarily restrict the LINE account from sending further messages via the official account. The restriction typically resolves after about 1 hour. Other accounts within the official account remain unaffected.
Exceeding about 200 messages sent within 24 hours results in the following notification:
"You have reached the daily message limit and cannot send further messages. This restriction will be lifted within 24 hours. However, you can reply to messages received from users within the last 7 days."
During this time, the sending feature is temporarily disabled for up to 24 hours but allows replies to recent messages. Other accounts in the official account remain unaffected.
Group messages must not include URLs to spam websites or inappropriate content.
Message content may be reviewed by LINE. The following are prohibited: violent or sexually explicit expressions, discriminatory content, content promoting or encouraging suicide, self-harm, or drug abuse, and other content deemed inappropriate.
If you encounter issues while using LINE, you may need to contact LINE Corporation. Here are all the available ways to reach LINE support:
Contact LINE Corporation