Who owns your website, domain and ad accounts? A 15-minute check for NZ business owners
Short answer. You own an account when it is registered in your business's name and someone inside your business holds the top level of access. For most NZ businesses that means six things: the domain, the website, the Google Business Profile, Google Analytics, Google Ads and Meta. Suppliers should be users on those accounts, not the owners of them. You can check all six in about fifteen minutes.
Checked October 2026.
Why does it matter who owns the accounts?
Because you find out at the worst moment. Usually it is when you want to change supplier, and the old one holds the domain, the ad account with three years of history, or the Google Business Profile with all your reviews. Getting them back can take weeks, and sometimes a fee.
The fix is cheap if you do it before anyone leaves. It is expensive afterwards.
The 15-minute ownership check
1. Your domain name
Look up your domain on the .nz WHOIS (search "dnc.org.nz whois"). The registrant is the legal holder of a .nz domain. It should be your business, not your web designer.
Also check:
Which registrar it is with, and whether you can log in to that registrar yourself.
Whether you can get the authorisation code. It used to be called a UDAI, and you need it to move the domain to another registrar.
Who gets the renewal notices. If they go to a supplier's email address, a lapsed domain can take your website and email down with it.
If the registrant is wrong, the Domain Name Commission, which oversees .nz, runs a dispute resolution service.
2. Your website
Ask three questions:
Whose account is the website built in? It should be your business's account on the platform, whether that is Wix, WordPress hosting, Shopify or something else.
Can you log in with full access, or only edit pages?
What happens if you leave? Some suppliers build on their own platform or theme licence, and the site cannot move with you. Ask before you sign, not after.
3. Your Google Business Profile
This is the listing that shows in Google Maps with your reviews. Open it, go to the settings for People and access, and see who is listed.
Google Business Profile has a primary owner, other owners and managers. Only an owner can add or remove people, and only the primary owner can hand primary ownership to someone else. The primary owner should be someone in your business. Your supplier can be a manager.
4. Google Analytics
In Google Analytics, check the account's access management. Someone in your business should hold the Administrator role. If the only administrators are at your agency, you hold none of your own website data.
5. Google Ads
Google Ads has five access levels: Admin, Standard, Read only, Billing and Email only. Someone in your business should have Admin access. Your agency can work with Standard access or through their own manager account.
Check the billing too. If Google invoices your agency rather than you, you cannot see what Google actually charged. We covered how to check that in Google Ads management fees in New Zealand.
6. Facebook and Instagram
Your Facebook Page, Instagram account and ad account should sit in a Meta business portfolio (formerly Business Manager) that your business owns. Someone in your business should be a full-control admin. An agency should be added as a partner, not hold the portfolio itself.
What should you do if a supplier owns something?
Ask, in writing, for it to be transferred to your business. Most suppliers will do it. Be specific: name the account, the access level you want and the date. Keep a copy of the request.
If the answer is no, check your contract for what it says about ownership and handover. Then get advice before the relationship ends, not after.
What should your next contract say?
Before you sign with any marketing supplier, get these in writing:
Every account is registered in your business's name, and you hold the top level of access.
The supplier is a user, added by you, and removed by you if you part ways.
On handover, you get everything: logins, files, the brand assets, the tracking set-up and the documentation.
No handover fee.
How we handle it
Every account we set up is in your business's name from day one: the domain, the website, the Google and Meta accounts, the data and the brand files. We are users on your accounts, and you can remove us at any time. It is written into the agreement.
If you would like help running this check, email us at hello@moltengroup.co.nz or visit moltengroup.co.nz.
Questions owners ask
How do I find out who owns my .nz domain?
Look it up on the .nz WHOIS run by the Domain Name Commission. The registrant shown is the legal holder. If it is not your business, ask the person or company named to transfer it.
My web designer won't give me my domain. What can I do?
Ask in writing, naming the domain and the date you need it by. Check your contract. If the registrant is someone else and they will not transfer it, the Domain Name Commission runs a dispute resolution service for .nz domains.
Should my agency own my Google Ads account?
No. The account should be in your business's name with Admin access held inside your business. Your agency can manage it with Standard access or through a manager account.
What is the difference between an owner and a manager on Google Business Profile?
Owners can add and remove people. Managers can edit the profile and reply to reviews but cannot manage users. Keep the primary owner role inside your business.