Glossary · Term
A buyer or campaign volume limit that adjusts in real time based on hourly, daily, or conversion-based conditions.
Definition
A dynamic cap is a cap that changes based on runtime signals rather than a static number. Examples: throttle a buyer to 20 leads per hour, pause a buyer after five consecutive rejections, resume after conversion volume clears a threshold, or raise the cap after 6pm. Dynamic caps are how a network stays inside buyer tolerances without manual intervention.
Why it matters
Dynamic caps protect buyer relationships and payouts simultaneously. Blowing past a buyer's absorption rate causes rejections, which cause payout renegotiation, which compounds across the network. Setting a cap too conservative leaves paid inventory on the table.
How it fails in practice
Most dynamic caps rely on rules configured once and never audited. The buyer's actual absorption rate shifts, the rule keeps firing on stale thresholds, and the network either over-throttles a healthy buyer or under-throttles one that has silently degraded.
Related terms
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