Frequency capping limits how often a given viewer is shown the same ad or campaign over a period. Without it, viewers get the same spot repeatedly in one session - a notorious streaming annoyance that drives irritation and erodes both ad effectiveness and content enjoyment.
Implementing it well requires identity and state across the session and across devices, which is harder in server-side insertion and in the cookieless, multi-device OTT world than on the old web. Good frequency management improves viewer experience and advertiser value at once, but it constrains fill, so it is another balance the ad stack must strike.
The handbook · 7 volumes
Fora Soft Video Engineering Handbook
Frequency capping stops one viewer from seeing the same spot five times in a session, and it only works when the player and ad server share viewer state. We wrote seven volumes covering the video stack; for frequency capping start with Volume 3 on players and streaming economics, then Volume 2 on manifests and HLS ad markers, with encoding in Volume 1. Written by Nikolay Sapunov, CEO at Fora Soft.
Viewers complaining they see the same ad over and over?
We will review your ad server and player integration and send a frequency capping design that works across devices and sessions. 250+ video products shipped since 2005.
