# Generative Destination on Your Domain

A brand-owned destination on your own domain, such as video.yourbrand.com, that Studio and Canvas, part of Supervised Intelligence, generate and keep fresh. Advertisers, partners, and your own brand safety lists can allowlist it as a known, verified domain.

A generative destination is a site Genuin builds for your brand from your groups, player types, and brand kit. [Studio](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/studio-produce-brand-video-from-podcasts-long-form-and-catalogs) and [Canvas](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/canvas-run-your-network-with-growth-and-monetization-agents) generate its pages and keep them fresh. It runs on a subdomain of your own domain, such as `video.yourbrand.com`, so visitors never leave your brand's address. Until you connect your domain, it runs on your Genuin subdomain, such as `yourbrand.begenuin.com`. It stays yours: it carries your brand kit and your content and reports as your own property on your grid.

[Octo](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/octo-operates-your-business-account-octo-proposes-you-approve), Genuin's Supervised Intelligence interface in your Business Account, proposes this capability when it finds a fit on your sites and apps. It completes the steps under Set it up from your brand context. Nothing goes live until you approve it. It's part of [Offsite](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/offsite/offsite-what-it-does-and-where-to-start), and [Extended O&O: how managed syndication works end to end](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/extended-o-o-how-managed-syndication-works-end-to-end) explains how Genuin runs branded destinations as a managed service.

## When to use it

Use it when your video needs a destination of its own.

| Who | What the destination gives them |
| --- | --- |
| Brands without a site of their own | A brand-owned home for their video |
| Publishers | A destination outside their CMS |
| Creators | A home page in an afternoon |
| Any network running offsite tags | A landing destination on a domain buyers already know |

## How it works

- The destination runs on a subdomain of your domain, such as `video.yourbrand.com`, through one CNAME record. Until you connect one, it runs on your Genuin subdomain, such as `yourbrand.begenuin.com`.
- Once your domain is live, your Genuin subdomain redirects every page to it, so links shared earlier keep working.
- It renders the groups, player types, and brand kit you choose.
- The allowlist bundle packages the destination domain, its ads.txt and sellers.json entries, and its brand safety profile. Buyers and partners add it to their domain allowlists.
- The destination reports as its own property on your grid, so revenue rolls up under it.
- You decide whether search engines index it, and it can point its canonical back to your site when both exist.

## Set it up

Octo proposes the destination with steps 2 and 3 already done. You add the DNS record for step 1 yourself, then review the result and confirm it.

1. Connect your domain, as described in [Put the destination on your domain](#put-the-destination-on-your-domain).
2. Choose the groups, player types, and brand kit the destination renders. Canvas keeps it current on your cadence.
3. Publish the allowlist bundle for buyers and partners, and add the domain to your own allowlists under **Control** > **Brand safety profile**. [Set up ads.txt and sellers.json](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/set-up-ads-txt-and-sellers-json) explains the seller entries in the bundle.

## Put the destination on your domain

You connect your domain once, under **White label Settings** in your Business Account. Your hosted social experience and the destination share the brand's address, so the same setting moves both to your domain.

Use a subdomain of your domain, such as `video.yourbrand.com`, other than `www`. An apex domain such as `yourbrand.com` can't carry a CNAME record; Genuin sets one up by request through support@begenuin.com.

To save the domain, you need the Owner or Admin role, or a custom role that can create and edit **White label settings**.

### Add the CNAME record

Add the record at your DNS provider before you save the domain in your Business Account. Once the domain is saved, your Genuin subdomain redirects visitors to it, so a missing record sends them to an address that doesn't load.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Type | CNAME |
| Name, host, or alias | The subdomain label only, such as video. Some providers want the full hostname, such as video.yourbrand.com. |
| Target, value, or points to | Your Genuin subdomain, such as yourbrand.begenuin.com, exactly as shown under Current Domain in White label Settings |
| TTL | The provider's default |

For where to add the record at GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, AWS Route 53, and other providers, see [Point your domain to your hosted social experience](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/can-you-host-your-brand-community-on-your-own-domain-with-a-white-label-setup).

> **Warning** On Cloudflare, set the record's proxy status to DNS only, not Proxied. A proxied record answers with Cloudflare's addresses instead of your Genuin subdomain.

DNS changes take from a few minutes to 48 hours to reach every resolver, depending on your provider. Check the record from a terminal:

```bash
dig +short CNAME video.yourbrand.com
```

When the record is in place, the answer is your Genuin subdomain:

```text
yourbrand.begenuin.com.
```

On Windows, run `nslookup -type=CNAME video.yourbrand.com` instead. If the answer is empty or shows a different target, fix the record before you continue.

### Save the domain in your Business Account

1. Sign in to your Business Account and go to **Build**. The page opens on **Getting Started**, the onboarding checklist. If the checklist items are greyed out, complete **Brand Assets** and **Brand Categories** first.
2. In the checklist, expand **Publish Brand Community** and click **White label Settings**. The page opens on **Set up white label domain**, with a short DNS guide, **Steps to White-Label Your Subdomain**.
   ![The Set up white label domain step in White label Settings, with the Steps to White-Label Your Subdomain DNS guide expanded and the production Current Domain below.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/e26776048e7c451b621521da6454cc0b6453f8ec-1873x912.jpg)
   *Step 2: White label Settings opens with a short guide to the CNAME record.*
3. Under **For Production Environment**, check that **Current Domain** matches the target of your CNAME record.
4. Enter your hostname, such as `video.yourbrand.com`, in **White Label URL** and click **Save**. Enter it in lowercase, without `https://`, a path, or a trailing slash.
   ![White label Settings with Current Domain ted.begenuin.com and shorts.ted.com entered in White Label URL under For Production Environment, and a For QA Environment section below.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/lnrtvsvr/development/b22e95e45887617899870cc7b779535fbff2aec5-1876x910.jpg)
   *Step 4: Enter the hostname under For Production Environment and click Save.*

Business Account shows **Success!** and notifies the brand's owners and admins. Business Account doesn't check your DNS record when you save, so check it with `dig` first. **For QA Environment** takes a second hostname for the QA copy of your site, as [White-label your hosted social experience](https://begenuin.com/developers/browse-by-products/onsite/how-can-you-white-label-your-community-under-your-own-domain) explains.

Business Account saves the production and QA hostnames independently. You can also skip this step during onboarding and complete it later.

### Check the destination on your domain

Open `https://video.yourbrand.com`. It redirects to `/home`, where the destination's home page loads, and the browser shows a certificate issued for your hostname. Genuin issues the certificate automatically on the first request to your hostname, so reload once if the first visit shows a certificate warning.

Then open `https://yourbrand.begenuin.com/home`. It redirects to the same page on your hostname.

If your hostname still doesn't load 24 hours after the record resolves, send the hostname to support@begenuin.com.

### What your domain changes

- **Destination pages** use your hostname: the home page at `/home`, articles at `/article/<slug>`, and events at `/event/<slug>`.
- **Your Genuin subdomain** redirects every page to the same path on your hostname, so links shared before the switch keep working.
- **Search** reads robots.txt and the sitemap on your hostname, and the sitemap lists addresses on your hostname. Submit the new domain's sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, because a sitemap submitted for your Genuin subdomain doesn't carry over.
- **Embeds and SDKs** don't change. They identify your brand by API key, not by hostname.

### Limitations

- **Subdomains only.** An apex domain such as `yourbrand.com` can't carry a CNAME record. Genuin sets one up by request through support@begenuin.com.
- **One production hostname.** Business Account has no edit or delete control for a saved hostname, and it doesn't accept a hostname that's already saved for any brand, yours included. To change your hostname, contact support@begenuin.com.
- **No** **`www`** **hostname.** Genuin looks up your brand without the `www.` prefix, so a `www` hostname doesn't reach your destination. Use another subdomain, such as `video.yourbrand.com`.
- **Top-level domains of 2 to 6 letters.** Business Account rejects a longer one, such as `.digital` or `.network`. Contact support@begenuin.com to use one.

## Settings

| Setting | Options |
| --- | --- |
| Domain | Your own subdomain, such as video.yourbrand.com, saved in White label Settings; your Genuin subdomain until you connect one |
| Groups rendered | The groups the destination shows |
| Player types | Vertical, horizontal, dynamic, or keywords |
| Indexable | On or off |
| Canonical | Points back to your site when both exist |
| Allowlist bundle | Exported for buyers and partners |

You set the domain under **White label Settings**. Octo proposes the other settings, and you approve them without code.

## What it reports

**Reports** > **Revenue** shows the destination as its own property. [The Hierarchical Grid: one spine for inventory, layout, and reporting](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/the-hierarchical-grid-one-spine-for-inventory-layout-and-reporting) explains how reports roll up along the grid.

- **Destination sessions**: visits to the destination.
- **Watch time**: video watched on the destination.
- **Search and AI referrals**: visits from search engines and AI assistants.
- **Revenue**: along the grid, under the destination's property.
- **Allowlisting buyers**: which buyers have allowlisted the domain.

## Build on it

The destination needs no code beyond the DNS record for your domain. For Genuin on your own pages, these live pages apply.

- [Embed the Genuin Web SDK on your website](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/how-do-you-embed-and-configure-the-genuin-web-sdk-on-your-website) renders your brand, community, and group feeds on your own pages.
- [Deliver contextual feeds with page, user, and location context](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/contextual-embeds-how-they-work-and-how-to-configure-them) shows how a page sends its context to an embed.
- [Go live with monetization in your feeds, apps, and partner pages](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/go-live-with-monetization-in-your-feeds-apps-and-partner-pages) covers the live ad surfaces.
- [Receive engagement events in your own analytics](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/sdk/receive-engagement-events-in-your-own-analytics) sends viewer events to your analytics and warehouse.

The destination calls in the [Business Account API](https://begenuin.com/developers/get-started/any-business/business-account-api-provisioning-oauth-and-the-resource-map) are proposed, not live. [Live API today and the Business Account API roadmap](https://begenuin.com/developers/developer-resources/guides/live-api-today-and-the-business-account-api-roadmap) maps what you can call now to what's planned.