Keep your ads off named domains and apps

Block the domains and app bundles your ads must not show on — a Domain or App Package Exclude rule per value for a handful, a preset list targeted by one Preset Domains or Preset App Packages rule for hundreds — and what a domain rule does and does not match.

How-to network manager admin Account → Advertisers → campaign → Targeting

What it is and why

Domain and app-package rules gate the inventory context a creative runs in, and an Exclude rule is a hard filter: a brand stays off the sites and apps you name, or a publisher refuses demand pointed at certain contexts. For a long list, a preset group maintained once by the administrator keeps every rule that references it current. This is the second layer of Use case: brand safety with category rules, domain lists and advertiser blocks.

Example. The advertisers who asked to stay off tabloid-style domains get one Preset Domains rule set to Exclude against the list Tabloid domains — 40 domains today, and every domain the administrator adds to the list later, without touching the campaigns.

Typical scenarios

You want to avoid…	Use	Does it stop demand?	Lives in
Your brand’s ads on 40 named tabloid domains or a dozen app bundles	Domain / App-package lists (one rule per value, or a preset list)	Yes	Targeting / Pre-targeting cards

Step by step

One Exclude rule per value for a few; a preset list for a real blocklist.

If you don’t want your ads to show on particular sites or apps, block those domains or app bundles with an Exclude rule. Category rules steer pairing; domain and app-package rules gate the inventory context a creative runs in. Use them on the demand side to keep a brand off named sites and apps, or on the supply side to refuse demand pointed at certain contexts.

A handful of values: open the entity’s Targeting (demand) or Pre-targeting (supply) card and add a Domain or App Package rule with Exclude — one value per rule (Channel accepts a comma / semicolon list in one click).
Hundreds of values (a real blocklist): have your network administrator build a preset group once — a named domain or app-package list — then target the whole list with a single Preset Domains / Preset App Packages rule set to Exclude. Updating the list later updates every rule that references it (Preset groups).

Caveats and exceptions

Domain and app-package lists

“Advertiser domains”: Epom’s domain rules match the inventory domain a request comes from, not a landing-page domain declared by a bidder. For programmatic demand, the network manager can additionally send blocked categories to DSPs — the Blocked IAB category field on the OpenRTB card (called RTB configuration on a placement), sent as bcat in bid requests. That is a request the DSP may ignore, not a filter: Epom never checks the creative that comes back. See Keep unwanted ad categories off your inventory and The three category systems.
A preset rule stores a reference to the group, not a copy — emptying or repurposing the group instantly changes every entity that targets it. Check what uses a list before clearing it.
Each rule type is switched on per role. Demand-side Channel is on for the stock Network Manager role; demand-side Domains is off for every stock role, and so are the supply-side Domains, App Package and both Preset rules. The stock Advertiser role has neither Domains nor Channel. A type missing from the card’s Add list has to be switched on for your role — ask your network manager.

The caveats that apply to every layer — what none of the four controls can do, competitive separation and the roles — are on Use case: brand safety with category rules, domain lists and advertiser blocks.

Not working?

An ad showed on a blocked domain, or the rule type is missing? The likely causes:

Symptom	Likely cause	Check
A DSP creative in a blocked IAB category rendered	`bcat` is advisory; the DSP ignored it	Block the DSP partner’s banner by name from Banners probability
A brand’s ad showed on a domain in the blocklist	The rule matched the landing-page domain by mistake, or the preset list was emptied / repurposed	Domain rules match the inventory domain; Admin → preset group → what uses it
No Domain / App Package / Preset type in the card’s Add list	The type is off for the role (off for every stock role on the supply side)	Admin → Users and roles → Targeting / Pre-targeting permissions

The other layers, and the verification step, are on Use case: brand safety with category rules, domain lists and advertiser blocks.

Reference

The preset lists: Preset groups — domains, IP ranges, app packages; what bcat does for DSP demand: Keep unwanted ad categories off your inventory. Which permission each control needs is in the reference table of the use case.