Getting Started with LINE Ads: From Opening an Account to Running Campaigns [2026]

We are asked about LINE advertising more and more often, so this article takes you through everything from opening an account to running the ads.

1. What is LINE advertising?

First, what LINE advertising is.
The official site explains it as follows.

‘LINE Ads’ is an advertising platform for running ads on LINE, a communication app with 89 million monthly users (as of the end of March 2021). You can run ads on the Talk list at the top of LINE’s chat list, the Timeline where various posts appear, and family services including LINE NEWS.

Quoted from the official LINE article (https://www.linebiz.com/jp/column/technique/20191118-2/)

If you use LINE, you will have seen ads in all sorts of places within the app.
They appear in the Talk list, the Timeline and the news area.

There are plenty of platforms to run ads on besides LINE, Google and Facebook among them, so what sets LINE advertising apart?
Here is a brief explanation.

・A large user base
The biggest point is that LINE has 89 million monthly users (as of the end of March 2021).
With that many users across a wide age range, you can reach every segment.

・Many places to run ads
LINE advertising does not only show ads inside LINE.
Apps in the LINE advertising network are included too, so your ads can run across many apps.

・Disadvantages
If there is a disadvantage, it is that the review is strict.
Some products cannot be advertised at all.
There are also many rules governing how banner images and landing pages are produced.
(See the official guidelines for details.)

2. The broad sequence for getting LINE Ads live

The broad sequence for getting LINE Ads live is as follows.

①Create a LINE Business ID
(not needed if you already have one)
↓
②Create a LINE Official Account
(not needed if you already have one)
↓
③Create an ad account
↓
④Review
↓
⑤Create and configure the ad
↓
⑥Review
↓
⑦Go live
↓
⑧Check the reports once live

3. Creating the Official Account

To run LINE Ads you need an ad account, and to create that ad account you first have to hold a LINE Official Account.
(Until March 2020 the LINE Official Account was called LINE@.)

From here we explain how to get a LINE Official Account.

If you already have a LINE Official Account, skip ahead to “Creating the ad account”.

Creating an official account

First, go to the LINE Official Account site below.

LINE For Business

Click “Open a LINE Official Account (free)” below.

“LINE Business ID” appears, which may leave you wondering how it differs from a LINE Official Account.
This is the LINE Business ID you need in order to create a LINE Official Account.
(we refer to it as the LINE Business ID from here on)
If you do not have a LINE Business ID, click “Create an account”.

Choose either “Register with a LINE account” or “Register with an email address”.

The difference is as follows.
・Register with a LINE account
Create your LINE Business ID (LINE Official Account) by linking the personal LINE account you use day to day
・Register with an email address
Register with any email address and create a LINE Business ID (LINE Official Account)

For company use, most people register with a company email address.

Enter your email address and submit.

Enter the name and password you want to register.

Enter the details of the account you will run.
・Account name
・Email address
・Company / business name (optional)
・Industry
Fill these in.

“Request account verification”
“Verify later (go to the admin screen)”
are the options you are shown.

Verification unlocks a range of features, so we recommend completing it as well. (Review can take several days.)
You can apply for verification later.

If you are applying for a verified account, you also have to choose an “application type”.
Once you have chosen that,
・Store / facility details
・Company details
・Applicant details
and further forms appear.

Once your LINE Official Account is registered, you can go through to the admin screen below.

From here you can manage the LINE Official Account.
If you did not request account verification during registration, you can start it from the area outlined in red.

That completes the creation of your LINE Official Account. Well done.

Next, we create the LINE ad account.

4. Creating the ad account

Let us create the ad account. First, log in to your LINE Business ID.

You can create a new account from “Ad accounts” at the top left.

As you go on,
・Billing details
・Advertiser details
・Product details
・Basic details
and other forms appear for you to complete, so fill them in and continue.

Registration is complete once everything is filled in, butreview can take several days.

Once registration is complete, you can go through to a page called “Ad Manager”.

5. Creating and configuring the ad

Next, how to set up the ads you will run.

Selecting “Campaign objective” on the left lets you set the objective of the campaign.

You can choose the campaign objective from the following.
・Website traffic
・Website conversions
・App installs
・App engagement
・Video views
・Friend adds

Further down, set the following.
・Basic details
・Run dates
・Optional settings

Press “Save and create ad group” to move to the next step.

Creating the ad group involves the following.

・Basic details
You can set a name for the ad group.
You can also choose the delivery status of the ad, either “Active” or “Paused”.

・Targeting
As well as location, gender, age and OS, you can set what subject areas the people you target are interested in.

Related article:
LINE Ads targeting explained in full

・Ad format
You can choose whether to run in-stream video.
Tick “Run” and your ads can appear inside video content.

・Ad delivery
You can choose placements from “Automatic placement” or “Edit placements”.
“Automatic delivery” is the recommended option here.

Choose “Edit placements” and from there you can go on to
select LINE and the LINE Ad Network (display advertising and rewarded video advertising).
Selecting “LINE Ad Network” lets your ads appear in apps other than LINE.

・Optimisation and bidding
You can set how bids are determined, the bid strategy and a maximum CPC.

・Budget
You can set a daily budget.

Set this and the “estimated audience” panel on the right changes.

Checking it gives you a rough forecast of how large an audience you can reach, so it is worth using as a guide as you narrow down your targeting.

Related article:
LINE Ads costs and pricing models explained

Go on to the next step and you can choose the ad format.

You can choose from image, video, carousel and image (small), so pick the format that suits your purpose. Fill in the rest of the ad details and create it.

Related article:
LINE Ads banner and video sizes and submission requirements

6. Ad review

Once you create an ad, review begins.
Only after it clears a strict review can the ad run.

Read LINE’s official guidelines closely on the review criteria.
LINE Ads review guidelines

Review covers the ad copy and creative, and the landing page they lead to.

Ad and creative review

“Ad and creative review” sets out detailed rules for producing ad images.

Here are some of those rules.

・State who is behind the ad
You must state the advertiser running the ad clearly within the image.

・No wording or ad judged to have poor usability
Images that do not display properly, or that could cause mistaken taps, are prohibited.
That covers, for example, putting a dummy button in the image that looks operable but is not.

・Wording that could stir speculation or a gambling impulse
Claims such as “guaranteed earnings”, or the use of photographs of wads of banknotes, are prohibited as misleading to users.

The above is only part of “Ad and creative review”.
Read the official guidelines closely as you produce your ads.

Review of the landing page

The landing page the ad links to is reviewed as well.

The point singled out for particular attention is how cosmetics, food and health equipment are described.
Avoid wording that falls foul of the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.

For example, the following are not allowed.
・Lost 10kg in two weeks!
・My blemishes disappeared!
・Limited time only! (where no specific period is stated, or where it does not match reality)

The whole of the landing page is checked, so
・whether it displays legibly on a smartphone
・whether the advertiser is clearly stated
need attention too.

7. Managing the ads

Once you have created an ad, you can manage it on a screen like the following.

This screen shows how the ads are performing, with the following listed out.
・Impressions
・Clicks
・CTR
・CPC
・CV
・CVR
・CPA, and so on

Ad reports can also be exported as a CSV file.

Click the three lines at the top left and select “Performance report”.

The report list appears, so click “+ Create report”.

You can set the following in detail.
・Level
・Reporting interval
・Unit of aggregation
・OS
・Location (place of residence)
・Gender
・Age
・Interests
・Behaviour
・Attributes
・What is counted
・File format
・Deleted items

Configure it, click “Create” and the file is exported.

8. In closing

That is the sequence for creating LINE Ads.
Review is strict, so go through the guidelines carefully beforehand, and if you are rejected, revise and apply again.

Once the ads are live, keep checking performance in the reports and lift results by reviewing and improving the banner images, the landing page, the targeting, the bid settings and every other element.