The Blocked Domains tool lets you specify websites in our partner distribution network where you do not want your Sponsored Search or Content Match ads to be displayed.

Blocked Domains helps you connect with traffic that better meets your business needs. For example, you might sell a music-related product to rock enthusiasts and want to ensure that your ad won't appear on certain sites that appeal only to classical music enthusiasts. You could then block the classical music websites, so that your ads will not appear there.

Blocked Domains - Key Features

• Block your ads from up to 250 web sites
• Works with Sponsored Search and Content Match
• Block sites on your entire account
• Complements pricing discounts

How It Works

Blocking a domain is specific to the exact URL you enter. For example, blocking electronics-planet.com has a different effect than blocking www.electronics-planet.com. Keep this in mind as you enter domain addresses so that you block the domains that you intend to block. The following examples show you how domains are blocked, based on the domain, sub-domain and directories you specify.

1. “electronics-planet.com”

   Notice that this example does not include "www." or any sub-domain. Entering “electronics-planet.com” would block everything under the electronics-planet.com domain, including pages under electronics-planet.com, www.electronics-planet.com, www1.electronics-planet.com, games.electronics-planet.com or www.electronics-planet.com/videogames. You should use the format in this example (without "www." or any sub-domain) if you want to block the entire web site.

2. “www.electronics-planet.com” or “products.electronics-planet.com”

   These examples would block the specific domain or sub-domain you typed in. So if you blocked “www.electronics-planet.com”, your ads would not appear on pages under such domains as www.electronics-planet.com or www.electronics-planet.com/prices. But they could appear on pages under domains such as electronics-planet.com or games.electronics-planet.com.

   Likewise, if you blocked “products.electronics-planet.com”, your ads would not appear on pages under domains such as products.electronics-planet.com or products.electronics-planet.com/videogames. But they could appear on pages under domains such as electronics-planet.com or www.electronics-planet.com.

   Keep in mind that you cannot have more than one sub-domain in a blocked address. For example, you can block “products.electronics-planet.com” (which has one sub-domain, "products"), but you cannot block “videogames.products.electronics-planet.com (which has two sub-domains).

3. “www.electronics-planet.com/videogames”

   This example would block the specified directory. So if you blocked www.electronics-planet.com/videogames, your ads would not appear on pages under domains such as www.electronics-planet.com/videogames or www.electronics-planet.com/videogames/xbox. But they could appear on pages under domains such as www.electronics-planet.com/faqs, www1.electronics-planet.com/tips, or games.electronics-planet.com/videogames (notice the different sub-domain "games" in this last example).

   Keep in mind that you cannot block any directories more than two levels below the root domain. For example, you can block www.electronics-planet.com/games/xbox (two levels of directories, "games" and "xbox"), but you cannot block www.electronics-planet.com/games/xbox/rates (three levels of directories).

Points to Note about Blocked Domains

• When a domain is blocked, it will apply to all campaigns in the account.
• A blocked domain cannot be more than 500 characters long.
• A blocked domain cannot contain any of the following characters: ? & : ; or \
• It does not matter if you enter the protocol (the http:// portion of the URL), because we remove that part of the address automatically.
• You can block as many as 250 domains per account.
• You cannot block a Yahoo! domain.
• You cannot block a top-level domain. The highest level you can block is a root domain (for example, electronics-planet.com).