This article is a WTF explainer, in which we break down media and marketing’s most confusing terms. More from the series →
The streaming ad frequency issue would seem to be indomitable. Despite years of audiences and advertisers complaining about the same ad airing ad nauseam, the problem persists. But what if there were a way to address the issue? Better yet—
OK, you can see where we’re going with this.
There is a solution for the frequency management issue: It’s called the Ad Creative ID Framework; it’s from IAB Tech Lab; it provides a system for unique identifiers to be attached to ads so that advertisers, ad tech intermediaries, streaming services and connected TV platforms can all better track which ads are being sent where across the streaming ad supply chain.
Most importantly, though, ACIF already has support from major industry members. That includes NBCUniversal, Paramount, XR Extreme Reach and AD-ID, which operates as a registrar for IDs attached to advertisers’ creative assets. And Comcast-owned FreeWheel’s and Google’s ad servers have also implemented ACIF support so that streaming ad sellers can log which exact ads were served and report that information back to measurement firms and, in turn, advertisers.
So… frequency management begone, right? Not exactly because of one major holding point, as covered in the video below.
More in Future of TV
Future of TV Briefing: 6 charts that sum up the state of streaming subscriptions
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how deceleration in streaming subscription growth and steady subscriber churn have coincided with a rise in people subscribing through aggregators.
Future of TV Briefing: How the TV, streaming and digital video industry spent its summer (2025 edition)
This week’s Future of TV Briefing recaps a summer during which the future of TV began to bore many more shades of its past.
Future of TV Briefing: The 2025 glossary
This week’s Future of TV Briefing updates the list of the key terms that can cause confusion when talking about the TV, streaming and digital video industry.