The Future of Connected TV: How Cross-Publisher Frequency Capping Is Revolutionizing Media Buying
The connected TV landscape is evolving rapidly, and as media planners, we’re facing both incredible opportunities and complex challenges. We recently tested cross-publisher frequency capping in DV360—and the results were nothing short of staggering.
The Problem: Chronic Audience Overlap
Viewers today aren’t just watching one streaming service—they’re stacking multiple platforms. In the UK, people have on average over three streaming services. They’re seamlessly moving between YouTube, Netflix, Disney Plus, and other platforms.
This creates a massive budget wastage problem. If you spend across multiple publishers separately, you’re likely reaching the same person multiple times without knowing it.
The Test That Changed Everything
We tested cross-publisher frequency capping between YouTube and Netflix to see if we could eliminate this wastage. The results:
– 51% overdelivery on reach targets
– Nearly 300% product search lift
– Over 400,000 users of incremental reach
But here’s the real breakthrough—our client’s product jumped from 3,000th to 500th in Google Merchant Center category rankings. A statistically significant 400% increase directly correlated to our campaign.
The Power of Mid-Campaign Optimization
Halfway through the campaign, we identified a demographic responding exceptionally well to our ad. We isolated that audience, dialed up frequency to the optimal level, and used cross-publisher frequency capping to focus budget on finding more of them.
The result? Immediate spikes in ad recall, search lift, and added reach. This kind of agility—applying digital insights to TV mid-campaign—is something we’ve never had before.
The Fundamental Shift: From Publisher-First to Audience-First
Instead of deciding how much to invest in each platform, we’re moving toward an audience-first approach. Define your audience once, then reach them efficiently across all publishers while deliberately managing frequency overlap.
What’s Next
The future is about publisher expansion (more publishers in unified buys), enhanced audience targeting, and unified measurement. At Brain Labs, we’re already testing attributed brand search to connect big-screen brand messages directly to demand generation.
My Advice: Start Testing Now
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. The CTV landscape moves too quickly to wait for someone else to figure it out first. Cross-publisher frequency capping isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a fundamental shift in how we approach media buying in a fragmented world.
The question isn’t whether you should be doing this—it’s how quickly you can get started.
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