YouTube Frequency helps brands have better control over how often their ads appear to users

If there is one thing that annoys people the most while using YouTube, it would be the ads that keep showing not just once or twice, but even thrice and many more times during a single day. Imagine getting pestered by these kinds of information over and over again. Would you patronize the products or services being advertised? Probably not. This is why YouTube finally made the step to enable brands to have better control over how frequently their ads will appear to users. This week, it introduced its “YouTube Frequency” tool to complement Google’s Display & Video 360 ad frequency tool, launched in February.

“Now, you can compliment your reach by actively setting your weekly frequency goal – a solution only YouTube can provide,” says YouTube in a blog post. “Combining our unmatched audience reach and leading machine learning capabilities, advertisers will now be able to optimize how many times viewers see their ads in a week. Not only does this mean more efficient spend, but crucially, a better experience for viewers.”

The Display & Video 360 tool focuses on ad campaigns on various smart TV apps like the YouTube and Hulu apps. However, with the introduction of YouTube Frequency, brands will have a better idea of the number of ads entering YouTube’s smart TV app and YouTube’s mobile and desktop apps.

“In a recent partnership with Discovery+, we ran YouTube campaigns with a frequency goal to determine optimal frequency levels in driving awareness lift,” YouTube adds. “Discovery saw twice the absolute awareness lift compared to past YouTube campaigns, at a similar cost compared to non frequency-optimized campaigns. This industry first will pave the way for frequency management standards across the industry.”

The new tool can make a big difference both for viewers and advertisers: a win-win situation. For the former, it can mean a more comfortable viewing experience on YouTube since there will be fewer annoying ads to see. For the brands, the moderation of ad frequency means saving some costs by ensuring the ads will not be viewed repeatedly only by the same groups of people. 

However, it is important to note that though the capability of the new tool looks impressive, the implementation will still depend on the brands and advertisers who are spending their own money on their ads.