diff --git a/lib/ads/serve.ts b/lib/ads/serve.ts
index c90809eb..fa512c8c 100644
--- a/lib/ads/serve.ts
+++ b/lib/ads/serve.ts
@@ -151,16 +151,20 @@ export async function serveAd(
     Array.isArray(c) ? c[0] : c;
   const today = new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 10); // UTC yyyy-mm-dd
 
-  // Budget pacing: keep only campaigns with room for at least one more click at
-  // their bid today. spend_today resets implicitly when spend_date is earlier.
-  // Never serve someone their own ad on their own slot. ad_charge_click refuses
-  // to bill or accrue on a self-click anyway; filtering here means we don't burn
-  // an impression and a redirect on a click that can't earn.
-  const candidates = (creatives as unknown as Row[]).filter((row) => {
-    const c = oneCampaign(row.ad_campaigns);
-    if (!c) return false;
-    return !(slot.owner_id && c.owner_id === slot.owner_id);
-  });
+  // A self-owned campaign (same profile owns the slot and the campaign) can
+  // never earn: ad_charge_click refuses to bill or accrue on a self-click. It
+  // used to be dropped here outright, which is correct on a network with other
+  // advertisers and catastrophic on one without — while every slot and every
+  // campaign belong to the same account, that filter removed 100% of inventory
+  // and every request fell through to the house ad. Serving stopped entirely
+  // and nothing recorded an impression, because house fills aren't metered.
+  //
+  // So self-owned campaigns are demoted rather than discarded, below. Between a
+  // real advertiser's creative and the house ad — neither of which can earn on
+  // this request — the real creative is strictly the better fill.
+  const candidates = (creatives as unknown as Row[]).filter(
+    (row) => !!oneCampaign(row.ad_campaigns),
+  );
   if (candidates.length === 0) return houseFill(format);
 
   // A campaign is PAID-eligible only if its owner can actually cover a click at
@@ -187,9 +191,14 @@ export async function serveAd(
     const spentToday = c.spend_date === today ? c.spend_today_cents : 0;
     const hasBudget = spentToday + bid * CREDIT_CENTS <= c.daily_budget_cents;
     const hasFunds = (creditsByOwner.get(c.owner_id) ?? 0) >= bid;
+    // Same owner on both sides of the transaction: the click can't be billed,
+    // so it must never win paid inventory ahead of an advertiser who would
+    // actually pay. Free tier is exactly the right home for it — same place a
+    // campaign that has run out of funds goes.
+    const isSelfDeal = !!(slot.owner_id && c.owner_id === slot.owner_id);
     // Legacy 'exhausted' rows never compete for paid inventory on that status
     // alone — funds decide, and a top-up puts them straight back in the auction.
-    (hasBudget && hasFunds ? paid : free).push(row);
+    (hasBudget && hasFunds && !isSelfDeal ? paid : free).push(row);
   }
 
   // Paid inventory first, always. Free-tier campaigns only ever fill requests no
diff --git a/tests/contract/ads-self-deal.test.ts b/tests/contract/ads-self-deal.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..11601c15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/contract/ads-self-deal.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+// Regression: a self-owned campaign (same profile owns the slot and the
+// campaign) used to be filtered out of the candidate list entirely. That is
+// right on a network with other advertisers, and fatal on one without — while
+// every slot and campaign belonged to a single account it removed 100% of
+// inventory, every request fell through to the house ad, and because house
+// fills are unmetered, impressions stopped being recorded at all.
+//
+// The rule that must survive: a self-deal can never win PAID inventory ahead of
+// an advertiser who would actually pay. The rule that was wrong: dropping it.
+
+// Declared inside vi.hoisted: the mock factory below is hoisted above ordinary
+// const declarations, so it cannot close over them.
+const H = vi.hoisted(() => {
+  const OWNER = "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111";
+  const OTHER = "22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222";
+  return {
+    OWNER,
+    OTHER,
+    state: {
+      slotOwner: OWNER as string | null,
+      campaignOwners: [OWNER] as string[],
+      credits: 9999,
+      inserted: [] as Record<string, unknown>[],
+    },
+  };
+});
+const { OWNER, OTHER, state } = H;
+
+function chain(result: unknown): unknown {
+  const c: unknown = new Proxy(
+    {},
+    {
+      get(_t, prop) {
+        if (prop === "then") {
+          return (res: (v: unknown) => unknown, rej: (e: unknown) => unknown) =>
+            Promise.resolve(result).then(res, rej);
+        }
+        return () => c;
+      },
+    },
+  );
+  return c;
+}
+
+function creativeFor(ownerId: string, i: number) {
+  return {
+    id: `cre-${i}`,
+    campaign_id: `camp-${i}`,
+    format: "terminal_ascii",
+    headline: `Advertiser ${i}`,
+    body: "Real advertiser copy.",
+    cta_text: "Go",
+    image_url: null,
+    logo_url: null,
+    bg_color: "#0b0d10",
+    fg_color: "#e7e9ee",
+    accent_color: "#6ee7b7",
+    font_family: "system-ui",
+    ad_campaigns: {
+      id: `camp-${i}`,
+      owner_id: ownerId,
+      status: "active",
+      ref_slug: `adv-${i}`,
+      destination_url: "https://advertiser.example/",
+      daily_budget_cents: 500,
+      spend_today_cents: 0,
+      spend_date: null,
+      bid_credits: 4,
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+vi.mock("@/lib/supabase/service", () => ({
+  serviceClient: () => ({
+    from(table: string) {
+      if (table === "ad_slots") {
+        return chain({
+          data: {
+            id: "slot-1",
+            status: "active",
+            formats: ["terminal_ascii"],
+            owner_id: state.slotOwner,
+          },
+          error: null,
+        });
+      }
+      if (table === "ad_creatives") {
+        return chain({
+          data: state.campaignOwners.map((o, i) => creativeFor(o, i)),
+          error: null,
+        });
+      }
+      if (table === "profiles") {
+        return chain({
+          data: [...new Set(state.campaignOwners)].map((id) => ({
+            id,
+            credits_balance: state.credits,
+            ad_bonus_credits: 0,
+          })),
+          error: null,
+        });
+      }
+      if (table === "ad_impressions") {
+        return {
+          insert(payload: Record<string, unknown>) {
+            state.inserted.push(payload);
+            return chain({ data: { id: "imp-1", ...payload }, error: null });
+          },
+        };
+      }
+      return chain({ data: null, error: null });
+    },
+  }),
+}));
+
+async function serve() {
+  const { serveAd } = await import("@/lib/ads/serve");
+  return serveAd("slot-1", "terminal_ascii", { device: "terminal" });
+}
+
+/** Fill repeatedly, since ~10% of paid-eligible fills are house by design. */
+async function fills(n: number) {
+  const out = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) out.push(await serve());
+  return out;
+}
+
+describe("self-owned campaigns on a single-tenant network", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules();
+    state.slotOwner = OWNER;
+    state.campaignOwners = [OWNER, OWNER, OWNER];
+    state.credits = 9999;
+    state.inserted = [];
+  });
+
+  it("still serves real creatives when the only campaigns are self-owned", async () => {
+    const served = await fills(40);
+    const real = served.filter((f) => f && f.campaignId !== "house");
+    // The blackout: every one of these came back as the house ad.
+    expect(real.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(real[0]!.creative.headline).toMatch(/^Advertiser /);
+  });
+
+  it("records impressions again, so the dashboard is not blank", async () => {
+    await fills(40);
+    expect(state.inserted.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+
+  it("meters a self-deal as free, never as paid", async () => {
+    await fills(40);
+    const tiers = new Set(state.inserted.map((r) => r.tier));
+    expect(tiers).toEqual(new Set(["free"]));
+  });
+});
+
+describe("self-deal still loses to a real advertiser", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.resetModules();
+    state.slotOwner = OWNER;
+    state.credits = 9999;
+    state.inserted = [];
+  });
+
+  it("never gives paid inventory to the slot owner's own campaign", async () => {
+    // One self-owned campaign, one genuine third-party advertiser.
+    state.campaignOwners = [OWNER, OTHER];
+    await fills(60);
+    const paid = state.inserted.filter((r) => r.tier === "paid");
+    expect(paid.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    // camp-0 is the self-owned one; it must never be billed against this slot.
+    for (const row of paid) expect(row.campaign_id).toBe("camp-1");
+  });
+
+  it("puts a third-party advertiser on the paid tier", async () => {
+    state.campaignOwners = [OTHER];
+    await fills(40);
+    expect(state.inserted.some((r) => r.tier === "paid")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a slot with no owner working", async () => {
+    state.slotOwner = null;
+    state.campaignOwners = [OWNER];
+    await fills(40);
+    expect(state.inserted.some((r) => r.tier === "paid")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});