Expanded Frequency Capping

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August 2007

Expanded

Frequency

Capping

Ad Management at its best!

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Disclaimer

This Implementation Guide is for informational purposes only. ZEDO MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. The information contained in this document represents the current view of ZEDO Inc. as of the date of publication. ZEDO cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

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Introduction

ZEDO Frequency Capping ensures more flexibility and control over the number of impressions served to a unique user. You can restrict the number of ad views for each visitor for a specific period of time. You can also set multi-day frequency caps, in conjunction with Channel Groupings (Global/All Channels / By Publisher), and By Channel.

This Implementation Guide outlines the scope of ZEDO Frequency Capping as an Ad serving solution, including operational requirements and functional capabilities.

Frequency Capping – avoid over exposure

Ad campaigning has always been a difficult task, given the complex strategies that is required to run a successful campaign. At one hand, more impressions can ensure better branding and on the other hand too many of it may lead to customer getting turned-off due to over exposure. Advertisers for long have been looking out for a solution that eliminates the possibilities of ad burnout.

Advertisers have felt a tremendous need to control the number of impressions served to each visitor within a given period. With this growing demand amongst Advertisers, Frequency Capping has become a ‘must-have’ feature for all Publishers.

ZEDO Frequency Capping answers this need of Advertisers. Advertisers can restrict the number of ad impressions at the level of channel(s) or publisher(s) for given day(s).

Application Scenarios

The application scenarios below illustrate a few common use cases to illustrate how Advertisers and Publishers can experience the benefits of ZEDO Frequency Capping. Each scenario contains one sample use case. These use cases are not intended as a comprehensive list and are for example purposes only.

Use Case 1: Frequency Capping at Channel level

Goal:

Setting frequency limits for ad across a given set of Channels.

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proceeds to the Create Ad page and enters details for the new Creative. On the Create Ad page, Publisher P selects the Apply Frequency Cap check box, following which the Frequency Cap Type is enabled. Publisher P selects ‘By Channel’ option and System displays additional fields to set frequency limits for the Channels selected earlier. Publisher P specifies appropriate values for number of impression and number of days. Finally, Publisher P saves the details.

ZEDO’s Ad Tag on the Publisher P’s web portal is capable of tracking frequency count by default. ZEDO System uses this tag and sets a cookie on the visitor’s machine, which stores the impressions count. Once the limit is reached, ZEDO System avoids serving the particular ad under the specified channel. In case there is no other ad left for that channel, then ZEDO System serves Alternate Ad/Blank Ad.

Use Case 2: Frequency Capping at Publisher level

Goal:

Setting frequency limits for ad through the publisher’s web site.

E.g. Advertiser B wants to set frequency limits throughout the website

Scenario:

Advertiser B does not want to serve more than 10 impressions per visitor in a week. Advertiser B aims to control the overall impressions across the entire site and not just one particular channel.

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How it Works

The working of Frequency Capping is illustrated in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: ZEDO Frequency Capping - Example Scenario Important Note:

There is a possibility that ads might seem to be served more than the limit set. This happens because the ads are served in a random order for the specified period. Once the period is over a new cycle is started for another period. For example, as can be noted in Figure 1, there are two cycles: Day 1 and Day 2. If the last few ads are served towards the end of Day 1, and the first few ads of Day 2 are served as soon as the day starts, it appears as if set limit is not followed. It has to be understood here, that for each cycle, ads are being served in a random order but the frequency limit is never exceeded for the specified period.

Step 1: Create Ad

Frequency Capping can be applied to new as well as existing Creatives. The procedure is same on both Create Ad page and Edit Ad page. Therefore only Create page is explained here.

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Figure 2: Expanded Frequency Capping (By Publisher)

By Channel:

This option allows you to set frequency capping by the selected Channels. You can specify, for each Channel, the number of Impressions to be served and the number of days within which those impressions should be served.

Figure 3: Expanded Frequency Capping (By Channel)

Global Cap (All Channels):

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Figure 4: Expanded Frequency Capping (By ALL Channels/Global)

Step 2: Rank Ads

If frequency capping is applied to an Ad, it can be viewed on the Rank Ads page. System displays different icons to suggest the level at which the frequency cap was set.

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Functional Specifications

This specification sets out the range of functionality that ZEDO clients can expect in the ZEDO Frequency Capping feature. It may be useful in its descriptions of the reasons that this service was created and the considerations which governed its design.

Functional Capabilities:

 Ability to set frequency limits for a single channel, group of channels or the entire channels in the network.

 Ability to set frequency limits for one or more publishers. Based on the Channel selected, System displays a list of publishers that are linked to the selected Channel(s).

 Ability to set limits up to specified number of impressions  Ability to set frequency cap on hourly/daily/weekly basis Prerequisites

The prerequisites for using the Frequency Capping are listed below:

1. This feature being a ‘network-level’ feature, as to be enabled for your network. To make a request, contact ZEDO Support team at

[email protected].

2. Publishers should be linked to Channels. This is useful, when you select the ‘By publisher’ option for frequency capping.

3. Ad Tags should be present on the publisher website. If not, then new ad tag has to be placed on the publisher website.

Constraints

Currently, frequency cap can be set on daily and weekly basis. Also at present, impressions count is limited up to maximum 10 impressions and can be set for a period of maximum 7 days. Lastly, Frequency Capping feature is an irreversible change, which means once activated it cannot be deactivated.

Since, the development of Frequency Capping is still in progress above constraints are just matter of time and will be eliminated in the future releases.

Summary

ZEDO Frequency Capping serves as your answer to ad burnouts. With ZEDO Frequency Capping, you have better control over ad being served. You can restrict number of ad views for a specific period for each visitor. You can choose to set Frequency capping for channel(s) or publisher(s).

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Company Overview

ZEDO, Inc., is a leader in ad serving technology solutions worldwide. ZEDO’s Proprietary Third Generation Ad Serving™ technology provides Industry-leading advancements that enable cost effective ad serving products and services. ZEDO supplies customers with the tools and information they need to effectively manage their online advertising activity such as: low cost rich media serving, automatic revenue optimization, precision targeting, efficient trafficking, and much more. ZEDO is a global company with headquarters in San Francisco and offices in Boston, UK and India.

More information about ZEDO Ad Serving solutions can be found at