ScaleyFrequency Capping in Google Ads
How to stop the same person seeing your ad over and over, where the setting lives, and why Google will not tell you the one right number.
Written and reviewed by Christopher Krassnig
Published Last checked
Frequency capping is a Google Ads setting that limits how many times one person sees your Display or Video ads. You set a number of impressions per day, week or month. Display campaigns can cap at 3 levels: campaign, ad group or ad. Video campaigns cap at the campaign level only.
Also called: frequency cap, impression cap
How Frequency Capping Works in Google Ads
Frequency is how many times one person sees your ads in a set time. Google defines it as "the number of times a user sees ads in your Display or Video campaign over a given time period."
A frequency cap is the most you allow. When a person hits it, Google stops showing them that ad until the time window resets.
It only applies to Display and Video ads. Search ads do not have a frequency cap, because they show when someone searches, not while they browse.
Display and Video Caps Work Differently
Google spells out the differences on its definition page.
| Setting | Display campaigns | Video campaigns |
|---|---|---|
| What you cap | Impressions per user | Impressions (times the ad was shown) or views (times someone watched it), or both, per user |
| Time window | Per day, week or month | Per day, week, month or any combination |
| Where you set it | Campaign, ad group or ad | Campaign level only |
| How a person is counted | Third-party cookies by default, first-party cookies when those are not available | Signed-in users, or devices when the user is signed out |
One Video detail catches people out. Inside a Video campaign, in-feed, in-stream and bumper ads all count toward its cap. Say the same video also runs in a second Video campaign. Views of it there count toward the first campaign's cap too, but only in-stream and bumper views.
What Is a Good Frequency Cap?
There is no single good number, and Google does not publish one. A number from someone else's blog was set for someone else's store.
Here is how to find yours. Start with the job of the campaign. A remarketing campaign that chases people who left a cart can live with a higher cap, because those people already know you. A campaign that shows you to strangers needs a lower one.
Then watch two things over a few weeks: how often people see the ads (Google's reach and frequency reports) and what each extra impression earns. When more impressions stop bringing more sales, the cap is too high.
Display Campaigns Are Moving to Demand Gen
Google is moving Display campaigns into Demand Gen, starting with a migration tool in June 2026. Check your caps after you move a campaign, because the campaign type changes even though the Display Network does not.
Example: A Skincare Store Caps Its Remarketing
Made-up numbers, to show the method. A skincare store runs a Display remarketing campaign to people who viewed a product in the last 30 days.
With no cap, some visitors see the ad dozens of times a week and a few email the store to complain. It sets a cap of 3 impressions per user per day at the campaign level.
Four weeks later it compares sales from the campaign before and after. Sales held steady while impressions fell, so the money it saved was going to people who had already seen enough. It keeps the cap and tests a lower one next month.
Common Mistakes
Looking for a frequency cap on Search ads
Frequency capping is for Display and Video campaigns. Search ads show when someone searches, so there is nothing to cap.
Copying a number from a blog
Google gives no universal cap. Set one, measure sales per impression, and adjust for your own store.
Capping Video at the ad group
Video caps can only be set at the campaign level. Display caps can go on the campaign, ad group or ad.
Forgetting other Video campaigns count
In-stream and bumper views of the same video in other Video campaigns count toward the first campaign's cap.
Questions People Ask
It is a limit on how many times one person sees your ad in a set time. In Google Ads it is a setting for Display and Video campaigns, per day, week or month.
Google's Own Pages We Quoted
Every rule, limit and size on this page comes from these pages, read on 8 October 2026. Google changes them, so check the page itself before you act.
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