Advertising in Japan - LINE Ads Migration to LY Ads Display Ads: Everything Advertisers Need to Know in 2026

This article is a summary based on what I have researched about LINE ads Migration to LY Ads. In Geezerbuild we share important news, updates and best practices based on our experience working across Global Digital Marketing in and out of the Japan market. We work with a sense of belonging mindset to provide top of the game digital ads operations that focus on client’s satisfaction from the planning stage, campaign setup and reporting.

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If your brand is running LINE ads in Japan right now, this is an important platform change to be aware of in 2026. LY Corporation has announced that LINE Ads and Yahoo! JAPAN Display Ads have merged into a single platform called LY Ads Display Ads.

Due to the merger, every advertiser currently running LINE Ads must migrate to the new platform. The unified platform launched on April 1, 2026. LINE Ads will continue in a wind-down period until approximately late October 2026, with full service closure by the end of March 2027.

At Geezerbuild, I manage LINE Ads and Yahoo Japan Ads campaigns for international brands entering Japan. I put together this guide to break down what is actually changing, from cost metrics and minimum budgets, to creative requirements, placement options, and campaign setup, so you can prepare with a clear picture.

1. Current Condition 

Before April 1, 2026, LINE Ads and Yahoo! JAPAN Display Ads were separate products, each with their own platforms, account structures, billing systems, and creative requirements. The merger into LY Ads Display Ads brings those two platforms together.  

Integrated / Renamed Products & Actions:

2. How does the update benefit your Ad campaigns in Japan? 

One of the main benefits of this migration is the combined reach you get from a single platform. LINE has 100 million monthly active users in Japan (as of December 2025) and Yahoo! JAPAN has 54 million logged-in user IDs per month (as of March 2025). Together, around 80% of Japan's population touches a LINE or Yahoo service on a regular basis.

Rather than running separate LINE and Yahoo Display campaigns, you will be able to run cross-service campaigns within a single interface. Audience data from both platforms can be used together for more targeted delivery and optimization.

3. What Actually Changes? 

This section covers: costs, minimum budgets, campaign setup, creative requirements, and placements, comparing LINE Ads today with what LY Ads Display Ads looks like.

3a. Will Billing be Different?

The new platform is built on Yahoo! JAPAN Display Ads (YDA) as its technical foundation. This means the bidding logic, auction mechanics, and billing structure of the new platform follow YDA rules, not LINE Ads.

The most significant billing change is that manual CPM bidding, which was available in LINE Ads, is no longer supported. 

Billing is now set by campaign objective:

3b. Minimum Budget Requirements

LINE Ads has historically required a higher minimum daily spend to run campaigns, while Yahoo! JAPAN Display Ads have a lower minimum. Now the minimum daily budget for a campaign is 100 JPY per day.

The lower minimum daily budget of 100 JPY per day makes the new platform more accessible for smaller advertisers or brands running low-volume tests. That said, a 100 JPY/day budget is the platform floor, not a working recommendation. Based on our experience running display campaigns in Japan, a budget of 100,000 to 150,000 JPY per month is a more realistic starting point to collect enough data for meaningful optimization. 

3c. Campaign Setup: More or Less Requirements?

The new platform adopts YDA's account structure and interface. For advertisers who have only ever managed LINE Ads, the UI, account hierarchy, and navigation will feel different. For advertisers already using YDA, it will feel familiar.

Key Setup Changes to Know

• Account hierarchy: The new platform uses an MCC-style hierarchy, similar to Google Ads. This is a good time to clean up and reorganise multi-brand or agency account structures.
• Integrated Business ID required: To use the migration tool, your LINE Ads account must be connected to an authenticated Business Manager.
• Age targeting restricted: minors segments (19 and under) can no longer be targeted.
• Migration tool language: The migration tool is in Japanese. International advertisers managing accounts from outside Japan will likely need a local partner or bilingual team member.  

3d. Creative and Banner Requirements: What Changes?

The creative specifications shift significantly from what LINE Ads required. Here is a breakdown of what goes away and what’s new:

Image and Creative Specifications (YDA Standard, Applies to LY Ads)

3e. Placement Options

The new platform offers more reach than LINE Ads or Yahoo! JAPAN Display Ads alone. However, some specific placement from LINE Ads are being removed.

3f. Is It Easier to Set Up?

Long-term: Yes. the unified platform means one login, one interface, one reporting view, and one billing system.

Short-term: the migration adds work, particularly for advertisers who have only used LINE Ads and are not familiar with YDA's interface. Technical steps required before and during migration:

4. What Does NOT Change

With so much changing, let’s be clear about what stays the same, for advertisers who may have questions about whether they need to take action.

5. The Migration Timeline

Below is the full migration window, based on LY Corporation's official announcement.

6. Pre-Migration Checklist

This checklist covers the important actions to complete before and during the migration window.

7. Should You Be Worried?

If you are currently running LINE Ads and have not started preparing, yes, you should take this seriously. The October 2026 deadline is closer than it looks, and the migration process takes time. 

Bringing LINE and Yahoo! JAPAN display into a single platform is a real improvement for advertisers who set it up properly. Instead of running campaigns across two separate systems, you get:

• A single view of your display performance across Japan's two biggest digital ecosystems.
• Access to combined audience data that allows for more targeted delivery than either platform offered separately.
• New creative tools including responsive display ads, expanded CTAs, and day/time scheduling, that were only available in YDA before.

Brands that wait until Q3 or Q4 2026 to begin migration will end up in a rush. Campaigns get moved without proper structure, tracking breaks, and performance drops without a proper plan to optimise.

Brands that start now can use this period to fix existing issues, clean up account structure, and go into the new platform in a better position than they were in before.

Wrapping up

This migration is the most significant structural change in Japan's display advertising setup since LINE and Yahoo Japan merged in 2023.  It affects every brand running LINE Ads in Japan and requires planned action, not a last-minute rush.

The main things to keep in mind: your campaigns must migrate, the migration window is April to October 2026, manual CPM bidding and some creative formats go away, creative specifications shift to YDA standards, and the combined platform gives you access to a broader inventory than either platform offered on its own.

Start with the basics: connect your Business Manager, and check your creative assets against the new specifications. Everything else follows from there. 

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If you’re a brand looking to grow your audience or promote your products in Japan, feel free to reach out! We are always open to exploring how we can support your next Japan Digital Marketing campaign & Strategy.

Contacts

Fahdi Putra Hutama
Senior Digital Ads Manager
fahdi@geezerbuild.com

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References

LY Corporation. "LY Corporation Company Overview." LY Corporation, 2023. https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/

LY Corporation for Business. "Integration of Ad Platforms." LY for Business Official Announcement, September 25, 2025. https://global-marketing.yahoo-net.jp/information/20250925

LY Corporation. "Display Ads Platform Integration - Launch of LY Ads Display Ads." Official LY Corporation PDF Documentation, September 2025. https://s.yimg.jp/images/ads-promo_edit/support/pdf/202509_Display_Ads_platform_integration_EN_RN.pdf

Yahoo! JAPAN Ads Help. Yahoo! JAPAN Ads Official Help Documentation. https://ads-help.yahoo-net.jp/s/?language=en_US

LY Corporation for Business. "Integration of Ad Platforms (LINE Biz)." LY for Business Official Announcement, September 25, 2025. https://www.linebiz.com/jp-en/news/20250925/

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