Ad Separation

  • Updated on Apr 22, 2025
  • Published on Jun 2, 2023
  • 11 minute(s) read
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Tip: This topic is about publisher-wide industry and advertiser-level ad separation, which is managed by Organization Administrators.

Ad separation is a function of three separate components:

  • Publisher-wide industry and advertiser default separation intervals, as set on the Triton Settings > Ad Separation page. (Described below.)

  • Advertiser-specific IAB category settings and overrides, which are set in each TAP advertiser's profile.

  • Frequency caps, which are set at TAP's flight level by the trafficker.

The resulting separation is set by the largest cap in effect (i.e., greater restriction). For example, you can have a flight for an advertiser set with IAB1-1 where the industry separation is one per break, and the flight's frequency cap is one per day. As a result, the flight will only deliver once per day because that is the greater restriction.

Important!

Publisher Ad Separation is accessed from the https://settings.tritondigital.com domain. Be sure to allow that domain if your web browser uses an ad blocker.

Publisher-wide ad separation is managed on the Ad Separation section of the Triton Digital Settings page, which is only available to Organization Administrators. Changes made here affect all of your organizations. Be aware that it can take up to ten minutes before changes to the Settings page become effective in TAP forecasting. Also be aware that ad separation is a function of three separate components:

Ad separation works on a per-break basis. It is split between these two types:

  • Industry separation (intervals between ads of the same industry, as determined by the IAB categories set in the advertiser's profile).

  • Advertiser separation (intervals between ads from the same advertiser).

By default, TAP applies no set interval for ad separation at the publisher level. The result is:

  • Industry

    • Streaming/on-demand*: one ad (per IAB industry) per break.

    • Podcasting†: one ad (per IAB industry) per break/ad marker.

  • Advertiser

    • Streaming/on-demand*: one ad (per advertiser) per break.

    • Podcasting†: one ad (per advertiser) per break/ad marker.

* For on-demand ad calls, the concept of "break" is defined by the use of a dedicated query parameter. For more information, please refer to the On-Demand Specification and the Advertising Technical Specification.

† For podcasting ad calls, the concept of a "break" is equivalent to a "marker" location within the episode as defined within the podcast CMS. (In Omny Studio, a single marker location can be configured to call for multiple ads).

Use the Settings > Ad Separation page to:

  • Establish publisher-wide default separations for industry and advertisers. (I.e., instead of accepting the TAP default of "no set intervals" you can set default intervals that are effective across all industries and advertisers.)

  • Establish ad separation overrides for specific industries, based on IAB categories. (Overrides for specific advertisers are set in the advertiser's profile.)

The separation is enforced by blocking ads from the same industry or advertiser based on this system default rule (no set interval) or your custom default interval setting (see Default Separation).

Be aware that for in-stream and on-demand delivery industry separation, IAB categories and subcategories are treated independently. For example, if you specify IAB8 - Food & Drink it does not apply to subcategories of IAB8 (such as IAB8-1 - American Cuisine, IAB8-2 - Barbecues & Grilling, etc.). If you want to also specify those subcategories you must select them all, individually. (This does not apply to Podcast ad separation.)

Default Separation

As an alternative to the system default setting of no set interval (which allows an advertiser or industry a maximum of one appearance per break), you can create your own custom default separation intervals by Advertiser and/or Industry, which apply within the break. These are active at the publisher level, so they apply to all stations and podcasts, across all of your organizations. They are set on the Ad Separation Settings page. (Note that if you do create a custom default separation interval, you have the option to go back and clear those settings and revert to to system default of “No Set Interval” per break.)

If you create custom default separation intervals by Advertiser and/or Industry, each can be overridden for specific industries or advertisers. Specifically:

For a comparison of the two types of ad separation, see Publisher Ad Separation vs. Advertiser Ad Separation.

To set a custom default ad separation interval, enter a value in the ad separation interval field for the type of separation you want to customize (industry or advertiser).

The value you enter represents the number of interval ads between ads of the same industry or advertiser. So, for example, entering "3" as the custom default industry ad separation interval means "three interval ads between ads of the same industry within an ad break."

  1. System default "No set interval"  results in one ad per industry/advertiser per ad break.

  2. Setting an ad separation interval of "3" means the custom default mode for ad separation is "interval of 3 ads between ads of the same industry/advertiser."

Industry

To customize the industry ad separation interval, enter a new value in the field, and click Save. This value is the number of ads (interval) between ads of the same industry within each ad break.

For example, if you enter "2" it means that at least two ads from different industries (IAB categories) must be inserted into in each ad break between ads of the same industry. See more examples below:

  • Custom default interval setting "1" could result in this arrangement in a six-ad break:

    • Industry A

    • Industry B

    • Industry A

    • Industry B

    • Industry A

    • Industry B

  • Custom default interval setting "3" could result in this arrangement in a six-ad break:

    • Industry A

    • Industry B

    • Industry C

    • Industry D

    • Industry A

    • Industry B

This setting applies to all industries, across your entire publisher organization unless you apply specific industry overrides to this default setting. (See Industry Overrides.)

Advertiser

To customize the advertiser ad separation interval, enter a new value in the field and click Save. This value is the number of ads (interval) between ads of the same advertiser within each ad break.

  • Interval setting "1" could result in this arrangement in a six-ad break:

    • Advertiser A

    • Advertiser B

    • Advertiser A

    • Advertiser B

    • Advertiser A

    • Advertiser B

  • Interval setting "3" could result in this arrangement in a six-ad break:

    • Advertiser A

    • Advertiser B

    • Advertiser C

    • Advertiser D

    • Advertiser A

    • Advertiser B

This setting applies to all advertisers, across your entire publisher organization unless you apply specific advertiser overrides to this default setting in an advertiser's profile (See Competitive Separation in the Creating an Advertiser topic.)

Using Industry and Advertiser Separation Together

Before you create custom ad separation settings, consider how the industry and advertiser separation settings work with each other. The following example using Toyota and Nissan (two different advertisers, both using IAB category IAB2: Automotive) illustrates how they work together.

Custom default advertiser separation "3" for both advertisers, and default industry separation "2"

  1. Toyota ad

  2. Non-IAB2 ad/Non-Toyota ad

  3. Non-IAB2 ad/Non-Toyota ad

  4. Nissan Ad (Non-Toyota ad)

  5. Non-IAB2 ad (cannot be Nissan because of advertiser separation; cannot be Toyota because of industry separation)

Custom default industry separation "3" and default advertiser separation "2" for both advertisers

  1. Toyota ad

  2. Non-IAB2 ad/Non-Toyota ad

  3. Non-IAB2 ad/Non-Toyota ad

  4. Non-IAB2 ad

  5. Either Toyota or Nissan Ad

Clearing Custom Default Ad Separation Intervals

Once you have created a custom default ad separation interval, the Clear button appears. Click Clear to remove all custom default intervals and return to the system default of no set intervals. (You are prompted to confirm clearing the intervals.)

Industry Overrides

The value that appears in the Industry ad separation interval field, described above, applies to all industries. However, if you wish to override that default for one or more specific industries, create an override for those industries in the Industry Override section.

Industry overrides apply on a per-industry (IAB category) basis, and are in effect at the publisher level, across all organizations. Also note that IAB categories and subcategories are treated independently (see note, above).

As with the default overrides, the industry overrides are created on an ads per break basis. So, for example, if you create an industry override for the IAB category IAB1-4: Humor of "3," it means at least three ads of a different category will appear between each IAB-4:Humor ad in each ad break, regardless of the Industry ad separation interval described above.

To create an industry override, select the IAB category code, enter the ad separation interval you want to apply to that industry, and click Add.

To create more industry overrides, simply repeat the process.

To create similar overrides for specific advertisers, go to the advertiser's profile.

You can bypass IAB Category industry separation by using the IAB24 - Uncategorized category in the advertiser's profile. This means that a flight from an IAB24 - Uncategorized advertiser can run alongside any other flight (although advertiser separation and frequency caps still apply, if present). See troubleshooting tipfor more information.

Publisher Ad Separation vs. Advertiser Ad Separation

The publisher ad separation intervals that you configure on the Settings > Ad Separation page are global settings that affect all of your stations and/or podcasts. For example, if you go to this page and configure an industry ad separation interval for the office supplies (IAB22-12: Office supplies) of "3," it means at least three ads of a different category will appear between each IAB22-12: Office supplies ad in each ad break, across all of your stations and podcasts.

The advertiser ad separation intervals that you configure in an advertiser's profile only affects ads from that advertiser. So if, for example, you have an advertiser from the IAB22-12: Office supplies category called "Springfield Box Factory" and you apply an ad separation override of "4" in the advertiser's profile, it means:

  • At least four ads from other advertisers will appear between ads for the Springfield Box Factory advertiser per ad break.

  • If your publisher ad separation interval is set lower than the advertiser ad separation interval override for a specific advertiser (for example, publisher ad separation interval is "2" but "Springfield Box Factory" has an ad separation interval of "4"), then the advertiser separation interval takes precedence and at least four ads from another advertiser must appear between ads from "Springfield Box Factory."

  1. In "Settings," Industry separation of "2" affects separation interval of all "IAB22-12: Office supplies" ads across all of your stations and podcasts.

  2. ...unless there is a specific advertiser ad separation override (from the advertiser's profile) that is different. In this case the "Springfield Box Factory" advertiser has an ad separation override of "4" in its advertiser profile, so at least four ads from different advertisers will appear between ads from "Springfield Box Factory" per ad break.

  • If, on the other hand, your publisher ad separation interval is higher than a specific advertiser's ad separation interval override, the advertiser ad separation interval override setting still applies. (For example, if the publisher ad separation interval for that category is "4" but the "Springfield Box Factory's" Ad separation interval override is "2," you will still only require a separation of two ads from different advertisers per break between ads from "Springfield Box Factory."

Podcast Ad Separation

Ad separation for podcasts follow a different model than for on-demand and in-stream campaigns. TAP's podcast ad delivery limits ads of any IAB category to one flight per ad break.

Podcasting also groups the advertiser's IAB category and IAB subcategory together so they function like a single category. The category and subcategory both need to be matched by another advertiser in order for category separation to occur.

For example, IAB13 - Personal Finance and IAB13-2 Credit/Debt & Loans work as one category, and separation will only occur if another advertiser also has that unique IAB combination assigned to it. So if an ad for Visa credit cards (IAB13/IAB13-2) plays, and an ad for Mastercard credit cards is available (also IAB13/IAB13-2), the Mastercard ad will not play because the category has been "separated" for that ad break by the Visa ad.

Review: Ad Separations and Overrides

The illustrations below provide a review of the various interval and override settings discussed above.

Industry ad separation intervals

  1. This is the system default: no set interval, one ad per break.

  2. This is a custom industry default ad separation interval; it applies to all industries, across all of your stations and podcasts.

  3. This is an override of the industry ad separation interval for a specific industry. This overrides the system default or your custom default interval. In this example, the interval is "3" for all industries except "IAB1-4: Humor" which has an override interval of "5."

Advertiser ad separation intervals

  1. This is the system default: no set interval, one ad per break.

  2. This is a custom advertiser default ad separation interval; it applies to all advertisers, across all of your stations and podcasts.

  3. This is an override of the advertiser ad separation interval for a specific advertiser, as set in that advertiser's profile. This overrides the system default or your custom default interval. In this example, the interval is "3" for all advertisers except "Springfield Box Factory" which has an override interval of "4."

Troubleshooting tip: If an advertiser uses the IAB24 - Uncategorized category in its profile, it generally means a flight from that advertiser can run alongside any other flight. However, advertiser separation and frequency caps still apply, if present. The scenarios below should help you understand how those things can affect delivery with IAB24 advertisers.

  • Three different IAB24 advertisers, each has one flight. All three flights can run in the same break.

  • One IAB24 advertiser has three flights. If advertiser separation is set to 0, all three flights can run in the same break.

  • One IAB24 advertiser has three flights. If advertiser separation is set to 1, all three flights can run in the same break if the break has five markers. If the break has only two markers, only one flight will run.