Hakuhodo DY Holdings Establishes 'Ads for Humanity Inc.' to Launch Human-Verified Ad Network, Building an Advertising Infrastructure for the AI Agent Era

Hakuhodo DY Holdings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yasuhiro Nishiyama; hereinafter 'Hakuhodo DY Holdings') has established a new company, 'Ads for Humanity Inc.' (hereinafter 'Ads for Humanity'), to launch a human-verified ad network business that builds an advertising delivery infrastructure for the AI agent era.

Ads for Humanity will begin offering its advertising product 'Human-Verified Ad' today, which delivers ads exclusively to humans by leveraging 'World ID'*1, a human verification technology co-invented by Sam Altman, Max Novendstern, and Alex Blania. World ID enables users to prove their identity as real, unique individuals online without sharing any personal information such as name or email address.

Background: Structural Changes in the Advertising Industry Driven by the Proliferation of AI Agents

The estimated financial damage from digital advertising fraud (ad fraud) is approximately 151 billion JPY in Japan for 2024*2 and around 13 trillion USD globally*3, posing a structural challenge that undermines the credibility of the advertising industry.

In recent years, advances in AI technology have intensified this issue. Traditional bots, which mechanically repeat programmed actions, were relatively easy to detect. However, the latest AI agents can autonomously perform human-like operations—such as product comparisons, ad clicks, and form submissions—with indistinguishable accuracy. Moreover, while creating bots previously required advanced technical expertise, the democratization of AI now enables anyone to deploy sophisticated agents, leading to two critical problems.

The first is the expansion of ad fraud. As highly sophisticated bots become easily deployable by anyone, preventing fraudulent ad interactions has become increasingly difficult.

The second is the risk of systemic failure in advertising delivery and performance measurement. The growing volume of non-human traffic generated by AI search and AI agents not only makes it harder to reach human audiences but also contaminates advertising performance data—such as user behavior and clicks—with non-human activity. Data mixed with non-human behavior fails to accurately reflect real consumer behavior. Algorithms trained on such data may optimize in incorrect directions, potentially leading to declining advertising effectiveness.

In response to this situation, the Hakuhodo DY Group conducted a pilot test in 2025, in which Hakuhodo collaborated with Tools for Humanity Corporation—the developer and provider of World ID—and LG Electronics Inc. to launch the 'Human-Verified Ad Network,' an ad network delivering ads exclusively to humans. Ten advertisers from sectors including food, cosmetics, electronics, travel, and education, along with over 3,500 users, participated in the test. Results showed a click-through rate (CTR) approximately 10 times higher and a direct bounce rate improvement of about 15 percentage points compared to conventional web advertising, confirming high advertising effectiveness.

Building on the success of this pilot, Hakuhodo DY Holdings has established Ads for Humanity to fully advance its human-verified ad network business. By consolidating the Hakuhodo DY Group’s network of advertisers and media partners, ad technology infrastructure, creative capabilities, and cross-group sales systems, the company will mobilize the entire group to build an advertising delivery infrastructure that becomes the industry standard for the AI agent era.

Business Overview and Services

Ads for Humanity will operate the 'Human-Verified Ad Network,' a human-verified ad network built on World ID’s human authentication technology and LG Electronics Inc.’s blockchain technology.

【Features of the 'Human-Verified Ad Network'】

・ Human-exclusive delivery: By restricting ad delivery exclusively to users who have passed human verification, the network eliminates fraudulent ad interactions by AI agents and bots.

・ Tamper-proof delivery records: All delivery records are stored on a blockchain, creating tamper-proof evidence. Advertisers can verify that their ads are being delivered only to human-verified users.

The network’s advertising product, 'Human-Verified Ad,' will be delivered through 'WISE Ads'*5, a next-generation marketing solution developed by Hakuhodo DY ONE Inc. The service supports display ads, native ads, and video ads. Going forward, Ads for Humanity will simultaneously expand its verified user base through partnerships with service providers and increase its media inventory through collaborations with publishers, aiming to establish 'ads that reach only humans' as the new industry standard.

The Meaning Behind the Company Name 'Ads for Humanity'

'Ads for Humanity' is driven by the mission to 'create advertising for humanity in the AI era.'

By verifying users as real humans, advertisers gain reliable ad effectiveness, while consumers are fairly rewarded for viewing and engaging with ads. In a privacy-protected environment, the value of advertising circulates equitably between advertisers and audiences. Ads for Humanity is designing this new relationship between advertising and consumers.

New Company Overview

Company Name: Ads for Humanity Inc.

Established: April 15, 2026

Headquarters: 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Eiyo Morita

Capital: 50,000 thousand JPY

Shareholder: Hakuhodo DY Holdings Co., Ltd. (100% ownership)

Business: Human-verified ad network services

Corporate website: https://www.adsforhumanity.co.jp

About World

World aims to build the world’s largest, open network of verified real humans. Conceived by Sam Altman, Max Novendstern, and Alex Blania, the project seeks to provide everyone with 'proof of personhood,' 'financial infrastructure,' and 'human-to-human connections' in the AI era. For details, visit world.org and the official X account.

About Tools for Humanity

Tools for Humanity (TFH) is a global technology company founded to build human-centered systems in an era of rapidly spreading AI. Co-founded by Sam Altman and Alex Blania, TFH led the initial development of the World Network and currently operates the 'World App.' Headquartered in San Francisco, USA, and Munich, Germany. For details, visit https://www.toolsforhumanity.com.

*1 World ID: A tool developed and provided by Tools for Humanity Corporation that enables users to prove they are human online without disclosing personal information. As of April 2026, the World App is used by over 39 million people worldwide, more than 18 million of whom hold verified World IDs.

*2 Source: Spider Labs Inc., 'Ad Fraud Survey Report (Annual Edition 2025)'

*3 Source: Juniper Research press release, 'New Ad Fraud Study: 22% of Online Ad Spend is Wasted Due to Ad Fraud in 2023' (September 26, 2023)

*4 Hakuhodo, LG Electronics, and Tools for Humanity Conduct Pilot Test of 'Human-Verified Ad Network' to Suppress Ad Fraud and Deliver Ads Exclusively to Humans (October 14, 2025)

*5 WISE Ads: A proprietary advertising delivery service developed by Hakuhodo DY ONE, integrating the company’s digital marketing expertise and know-how. Designed for the post-cookie era, it delivers ads across all media touchpoints—including broadcast television—using a database of over 2 trillion online behavioral data points and the Hakuhodo DY Group’s consumer data platform.