YouTube’s new tool for brands means you don’t have to see the same ads nauseam

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Sometimes it's obvious that a company is launching a big advertising campaign. If you are a regular viewer, you may end up seeing the same ads over and over again. The power of tools that let brands control how often their ads are shown to specific users was announced this week by YouTube.

The tool was launched in February to cover ad campaigns that are running on different smart TV apps, including YouTube's app and apps from rivals. The program counts ads shown on smart TV apps, as well as on mobile and desktop platforms. It should mean less ad fraud for viewers.

Why does YouTube care? It's bad for companies if consumers see the same advertisements over and over. They want to know that they are not wasting money by showing the same person the same ad too many times.

In a post aimed at advertisers, YouTube explained.

Now, you can compliment your reach by actively setting your weekly frequency goal – a solution only YouTube can provide. 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.

It's up to brands to impose those limits, but here's hoping they know the best ad campaigns aren't the ones that hammer you over and over again with the same message.