Monitoring client traffic at frequencies suitable to infer playback information of applications executing at the client device is described herein. By way of example, network traffic transmitted to a client application can be analyzed to determine an amount of traffic consumed by the client. Based on the amount of traffic and optionally network conditions observed by the client, a suitable resource level can be determined for conveying the traffic to the client. Adjustments to allocated resources can be made, where requested, to improve consumption rates of allocated resources. The resource level can be determined at a frequency suitable to identify changes in playback state of the client application, to provide changes in allocated resource that closely respond to changes in traffic demand.