Frequency capping
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Frequency capping is a term in advertising that means restricting (capping) the number of times (frequency) a specific visitor to a website is shown a particular advertisement. This restriction is applied to all websites that serve ads from the same advertising network.
Frequency capping is a feature within ad serving that allows to limit the maximum number of impressions/views a visitor can see a specific ad within a period of time. E.g.: 3 views/visitor/24-hours means after viewing this ad 3 times, any visitor will not see it again for 24 hours. This feature uses cookies to remember the impression count. Non-cookies privacy-preserving implementation is also available.[1]
Frequency capping is often cited as a way to avoid banner burnout, the point where visitors are being overexposed and response drops. This may be true for campaigns of a direct-response nature measured by click-throughs, but it might run counter to campaigns of a brand-building nature measured by non-click activity. In social media, like youtube video campaigns, ignoring to set up a frequency capping may result in negative comments as the video ad become annoying no matter how good it is. Those comments may hurt the brand instead of get a brand awareness boost. [2]