Prodamp's SEO articles were ads — and Denmark bans ALL e-cigarette advertising

Prodamp sold e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches from prodamp.dk, and in Denmark all advertising for both is banned outright — for e-cigarettes under the Act on Electronic Cigarettes, for nicotine pouches as tobacco substitutes under the Tobacco Advertising Act. The company found a route around the ban: it paid other companies to publish 102 article-like pieces with links back to its website — SEO link-building to lift prodamp.dk in search rankings. The Hjørring city court ruled the scheme was advertising: anything with the purpose, or the direct or indirect effect, of promoting sales counts.

So did a free-shipping offer on orders above 499 kroner, which the court found worked as an incentive to buy more. After the Consumer Ombudsman reported the company to the police, the court on 3 February 2026 fined Prodamp — owned by Mica Nord ApS, in the small town of Brovst — 400,000 kroner.

'The judgment sends a very clear signal to the industry about the seriousness of all forms of advertising for electronic cigarettes and tobacco products', Consumer Ombudsman Torben Jensen said. 'The law exists to protect consumers, especially children and young people.' The point was the breadth of the ban: not banners and TV spots, but SEO articles and delivery perks too.