- Definition
- Own domains are the websites that belong to the brand being monitored, such as its main site, regional stores and campaign sites.
In plain words
Own domains are the web addresses the brand controls. Telling your monitoring tool which they are lets it separate your ads from everyone else's.
That list usually includes the main site, country sites, a separate store or outlet, and any campaign microsites.
Why it matters for brand and paid search teams
Every report about "other advertisers" depends on this list. If an own domain is missing, the brand's own ads show up as a competitor, inflate counts and trigger alerts. If a partner's domain is listed as your own, its ads disappear from review.
Agencies managing several brands, and teams with regional sites, get the most value from keeping it accurate. It is also the first thing to check when a report looks wrong: an unexpected "competitor" is often a forgotten site of the brand itself.
How it works
In search ads, the advertiser's domain comes from the display URL and destination. Google requires the display URL to match the landing page domain, which makes the domain a reliable way to group ads by advertiser.
Changing the list changes how past and future observations are classified, so it is worth noting the date of any change in reports.
Brands that run several sites often use different domains for different jobs: a store, a support center, a country site or a seasonal campaign. Each of those can appear as the display URL of the brand's own ads, so each belongs on the list. A domain that only hosts tracking redirects, and never appears in an ad, does not need to be listed.
Example
Northstar lists northstar.example and shop.northstar.example as its own domains but forgets its outlet site, northstar-outlet.example, which really is Northstar's. The next week, the outlet appears as a new advertiser in the alerts.
After adding it, the outlet's ads count as Northstar's own and the competitor list shrinks to the real competitors.
Fictional brands and domains, for illustration only.
Common mistakes and misconceptions
The main domain is enough. Add regional stores, outlets and campaign sites, or they will be counted as other advertisers.
Partners can be listed as our own. Label partners with a relationship instead, so their ads stay visible in reports.
The list never changes. Review it when you launch sites or retire them, and note the change in your reporting.
How to monitor it in Ads Lighthouse
Each Ads Lighthouse project stores its own domains. New advertiser observed alerts and brand mention highlights ignore domains you own, so your own ads are never counted as competitors.
Other domains can be labeled with a relationship in Advertisers, which keeps partners visible while separating them from competitors.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I set my own domains?
In each project's settings. The help article on creating your first project walks through it.
Should subdomains be listed?
List every domain your ads use as a display URL or destination, including separate stores and campaign sites.
What happens to past reports when I add a domain?
Reports and alerts from then on treat that domain as yours. Note the date of the change when you compare periods, because counts of external advertisers can drop from that day.
Official sources
Sources checked on .