Industries and services not eligible to advertise on LINE Ads platform

There are certain industries and services which cannot place advertisements on the LINE Ads platform. In such cases, opening an advertising account may not be permitted, or the account may be suspended, and the contract can get terminated. In the following article, we explain which industries and services are not allowed to advertise on LINE.

Examples of industries and services that are not allowed to advertise on LINE

According to LINE’s advertising guidelines, the following types of businesses and services are not allowed to use LINE for advertising purposes. Please make sure to check if your business is eligible before opening an advertising account.

• Religion-related content
• Gambling, pachinko, etc. (excluding public games and lotteries) *1
• Adult content, products, or services
• Dating, match-making sites, etc. (exceptions apply) *2
• Multi-level marketing (MLM) *3
• Investigator hire agencies
• Tobacco products / e-cigarettes
• Weapons, poisonous and deleterious substances
• Political content
• NPO/NGO organizations, corporate personhood (exceptions apply)
• Wildlife trade
• Medical clinics, eg. osteopathic, orthopedic, acupuncture, etc
• Off-label/ unapproved drugs, medical devices, etc.
• Prohibited financial products or services, eg loans, pawn shops, etc (exceptions apply)
• Internet-based self-improvement services (seminars, products, etc) *4
• Fundraising campaigns, eg. donations, crowdfunding, etc. (exceptions apply)
• Other businesses, products, or services that do not follow the advertising guidelines

Gambling-related activities, pachinko, etc. (excluding public games and lotteries)

Advertisements for manufacturers of pachinko/pachinko slot machines, job offers and other products & services related to the pachinko business, advertisements for physical gambling facilities or stores that handle cash, online games that fall under the category of gambling, etc. are also prohibited. Racing and bet prediction sites and online ticket purchasing services are also not allowed.

Dating and match-making sites, etc. (exceptions apply)

Match-making event companies, dating bars and parties, and other services for the purpose of meeting people are prohibited from advertising, even if they are not the main ad content. 

Multilevel marketing schemes (MLM)

Advertisements for multilevel marketing schemes (pyramid schemes), similar networking businesses, and services promoting quick compensation for little investment are not allowed.

Internet-based self-improvement services (seminars, products, etc)

Services that do not guarantee success or profit, with no trackable effectiveness record cannot be advertised.

Examples:

• CDs, DVDs, magazines, books, etc. for improving language or sports skills.
• Ads include phrases like “easy money”, “you will surely succeed”, “you will get pregnant” etc.

For more information, please refer to the LINE Ads Creative Guidelines here (Japanese only), or read our recent article on how to pass the LINE Ads creative review here.

DMFA is the official overseas LINE representative, and our team of bilingual Japanese digital marketing experts can answer your questions about running digital ads on LINE Ads platform. We also offer full support and management of LINE Ads and LINE Official accounts. To get started with LINE Ads, please get in touch.