Specifications Overview Standard Ads |
Additional Instructions and Guidelines
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For clients and agencies, we also keep our Creative Specifications updated on the IAB Creative Specs Database Site. The following details creative and technical requirements for weather.com accepted standard in-banner ad formats. |
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| Ad Size and Name | Max File Size | Creative File Types Accepted | Notes |
| 300x250 - Medium Rectangle | 40k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| 300x600 - Large Rectangle Banner |
50k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| 300x100 - Small Rectangle Banner |
20k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| 160x600 - Skyscraper Banner | 40k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| 728x90 - LeaderBoard Banner | 40k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| 468x60 Full Banner | 20k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| 125x125 - Uber Button |
20k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors) | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| Pop-Unders | 40k | .swf, gif, jpg; standard 3rd Party Tags (Please see our Third Party Adserving policy for a list of accepted 3rd Party and Rich Media Vendors). Max Allowable size is 700x300; min Allowable size is 500x300. | If you are hosting locally with weather.com, we have documentation on specific flash file set-up in the instructions guideline above. If you are serving with a weather.com approved 3rd Party or Rich Media Vendor, please check if the specific vendor has publisher specs, or you can also use our specs located on the IAB Creative Specs Database for more details. |
| Transitional/Interstitials | <100k | If the transitional/interstitial is going to be served locally: .fla file, fonts in pc format, and default .gif/.jpg are required. 3rd party Tracking and funtional URL must also be supplied. If using one of our approved vendors, please submit Rich Media Tags five days prior to launch to allow for adequate testing. | weather.com's method for site serving 'interstitials’ is to deliver a large opaque layer just beneath the bottom edge of the global nav toolbar, and then serve the ad file on that layer. It must run in conjunction with a Homepage sponsorship. We also can serve using one of weather.com's approved Rich Media Vendors. Please see our approved list on the Rich Media and Third-Party Ad Serving Policy located above. |
Rich Media Ads 
Download Excel Doc
| The following details creative and technical requirements for weather.com accepted Rich Media Ad Formats |
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| IAB Creative Specs Database: | For clients and agencies, we also keep our Creative Specifications updated on the IAB Creative Specs Database Site. | ||||||
| Placement: | Floating creatives are only permitted when run in conjunction with 300x250, 300x600, 728x90, and 160x600 positions. | ||||||
| Floating Time : | Floating ads are not to exceed 15 second duration and must automatically close at the end of the play. | ||||||
| Closing: | The Floating and Expandable portion of the ad must contain a clearly visible (16 pt font, e.g. [x] CLOSE) CLOSE or SKIP function that allows the user to stop the animation and close the floating and expanding element immediately. | ||||||
| Looping: | The animation can loop, but the animation length can only last for 15 seconds. After 15 seconds, animation must stop, but can resume on user mouseOver. Site approval is required for any looping over 15 seconds. | ||||||
| Expandable: | Expansion on mouse-over requires collapse on mouse-off. Click to expand; click to collapse. Click to expand ads require close control. | ||||||
| Max number of panels: 4. Please see specs below for Panel size pertaining to ad unit. | |||||||
| Audio: | All audio must be user-initiated click only - no exceptions. | ||||||
| Video (in ad space): | Can be host initiated. Must download politely, or stream in after intitial download. Maximum duration is :30 sec. and it must contain stop, pause, play and audio control buttons. Allowable video file size that streams in capped at 1.2MB Max. | ||||||
| Weather Elements: | Imagery that simulates weather elements are not permitted in floating creative element. Proper approval is required for advertisers that have weather elements within their ads. | ||||||
| Site Navigation: | Floating creatives can not cover or impede our site's navigation. General rule is to stay below the weather.com main site navigation bar. | ||||||
| Other Advertisers: | Floating or Expandable ads must not cover or impede another advertiser's campaign appearing on the same page. | ||||||
| Frequency Caps: | A frequency cap of one per user per session is strongly recommended on all over-the-page ad executions. | ||||||
| Rich Media Ad Placement: | Certain Rich Media Types are not allowed on certain sections of the site. Please contact your Account Executive to ensure you Rich Media Ad Placement on the site is accepted. | ||||||
| Ad Size - Type | Ad Name - Type | Max File Size | Panels | Expanded/Floating Parameters | Image Type |
| 300x250 w/Float | Medium Rectangle Banner - Float | 40k Initial; 80k Polite/Subsequent for the floating element. | 4 at 80k each | 920x400 is the recommended alloted area and it must float below weather's main navigation and resolve into a leave behind (reminder/leave behind ad). | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| 300x250 w/Expandable | Medium Rectangle Banner - Expandable | 40k Initial; 80k Polite/Subsequent for the expanding portion | 4 at 80k each | Allowable area for expanding down is 600px max in height, or to the left 600px max. | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| 300x600 w/Float | Large Rectangle Banner - Float | 50k Initial; 100k Polite/Subsequent for the floating element. | 4 at 100k each | 920x400 is the recommended alloted area and it must float below weather's main navigation and resolve into a leave behind (reminder/leave behind ad). | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| 300x600 w/Expandable | Large Rectangle Banner - Expandable | 50k Initial; 100k Polite/Subsequent for the expanding portion | 4 at 100k each | Must expand to the left with allowable expansion at 600px total in width. | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| 160x600 w/Float | Skyscraper Banner - Float | 40k Initial; 80k Polite/Subsequent for the floating element | 4 at 80k each | 920x400 is the recommended alloted area and it must float below weather's main navigation and resolve into a leave behind (reminder/leave behind ad). | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| 160x600 w/Expandable | Skyscraper Banner - Expandable | 40k Initial; 80k Polite/Subsequent for the expanding portion | 4 at 80k each | Must expand to the left with allowable expansion at 600px total in width. | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
728x90 |
LeaderBoard Banner - Float | 40k Initial; 80k Polite/Subsequent for the floating element | 4 at 80k each | 920x400 is the recommended alloted area and it must float below weather's main navigation and resolve into a leave behind (reminder/leave behind ad). | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| 728x90 w/Expandable | LeaderBoard Banner - Expandable | 40k Initial; 80k Polite/Subsequent for the expanding portion | 4 at 80k each | Must expand down; full expansion max at 360px. | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
Custom Ad Products Download Excel Doc
| Custom weather.com Banner and Creative Ad Formats |
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For clients and agencies, we also keep our Creative Specifications updated on the IAB Creative Specs Database Site. Weather.com custom products run in conjunction with dominant sponsorships and brand Lock Units. For more information, please contact your weather.com Account Manager. |
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| weather.com Custom Products | Notes: | Graphic Format and Size needed from Agency | 3rd Party served? | 3rd Party Tracking? | Rich Media? |
| 120x30 - HeaderSpon | This product runs in conjunction with prominent dominant sponsorship and Brand Lock. For more information, please contact your weather.com Account Manager. | For creative submission, please send the required logo in .eps format along with branding guidelines. Functional Click URL or Click Tracker URL. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | no |
| 120x30 - Button Sponsorship | The Button Sponsorship is a custom weather product which requires a 120x30 graphic with up to 40 characters of text. For more information, please contact your weather.com Account Manager. | For creative submission, please send a 120x30 (5k) static .gif or .jpg along with no more than 40 characters of text. Creatives and text will be served locally. 1x1 Tracking strings are allowed as are Click Tracking URLS. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | no |
| 53x60 - Spotlight Sponsorship | The Spotlight Sponsorship is a custom weather product that inlcudes a static 53x60 creative graphic and up to 40 characters of text. Text cannot be in ALL CAPS. For more information, please contact your weather.com account manager. | For creative submission, please send a 53x60(3k) static .gif or .jpg along with no more than 40 characters of text. Creatives and text will be formatted and served locally. 1x1 Tracking strings are allowed as are Click Tracking URLS. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | no |
| Partner Listing | The Partner Listing advertising opportunity inlcudes and IAB Compaint Ad Unit, 88x31 and two lines of copy served into our City Pages. | For Creative Submission, please submit an 88x31 static graphic in .gif, .jpg or .eps format. Two lines of copy with character limits set at 30 for each line. A functional Click URL is required for the Graphic and Text. Click Tracking and Impression tracking is accepted for this unit. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | no |
| Classifieds Module | The Classifieds Module is a custom weather.com product. For more information, please contact your weather.com Account Manager. | For creative fulfillment, please contact your Account Manager who will work with our Creative Services Media Solutions Team to fulfill this product. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | no |
| Microsite | The Microsite is a custom weather product that includes a microsite on weather.com, along with other weather.com prominent products. Please contact your weather.com Account Manager for more information. | For creative fulfillment, please contact your Account Manager who will work with our Creative Services Media Solutions Team to fulfill this product. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | no |
| Window Shade | The Window Shade is a customized advertising opportunity on weather.com. With an initial expansion on page load, your real-estate expands to an allowable 920 x 300px ad unit and stays exposed for five seconds, on weather.com's homepage.. Upon completion, the ad unit retracts to 920x30px with the option of the engaged user to click to re-engage to view the ad in full again.. | For creative fulfillment, please contact your Account Manager who will work with our Creative Services Media Solutions Team to fulfill this product. | no - 3rd Party serving accepted. | yes | yes |
| Desktop Weather Application Weather's own Desktop Application | |||||
| Desktop LeaderBoard | A standard IAB compliant 728x90 Leaderboard can be served into this position. The LeaderBoard must expand up. | If the ad is going to be locally hosted with weather.com, please see the Flash Ad Policy and Set-up document below. Otherwise, please see our Rich Media and Third Party Ad Serving Policy Sheet. Otherwise a 300x250 at 40k in .swf, .gif or .jpg format. Click Thru URl and Impressions Tacking URL can be supplied as well. | Yes | Yes | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| Desktop Medium Rectangle | A standard IAB compliant 300x250 Medium Rectangle can be served into this position. | If the ad is going to be locally hosted with weather.com, please see the Flash Ad Policy and Set-up document below. Otherwise, please see our Rich Media and Third Party Ad Serving Policy Sheet. Otherwise a 300x250 at 40k in .swf, .gif or .jpg format. Click Thru URl and Impressions Tacking URL can be supplied as well. | Yes | Yes | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| StartSpon In Page Ad 300x250 | The Desktop Start Sponsorship owns the first ad impression of the day when the Desktop Application initiates on Start-Up. The 300x250 Ad can be an in page ad, or an expandable ad. It can Expand to the left and up only. Full expansion to the left is 500px, and up is 450px. |
If the ad is going to be locally hosted with weather.com, please see the Flash Ad Policy and Set-up document below. Otherwise, please see our Rich Media and Third Party Ad Serving Policy Sheet. Otherwise a 300x250 at 40k in .swf, .gif or .jpg format. Click Thru URl and Impressions Tacking URL can be supplied as well. | Yes | Yes | swf, Rich Media Vendor Tags (see Rich Media Vendor List above) |
| Video BlueBox | |||||
| Video BlueBox | The advertising opportunity in the Weather.com video player consists of three separate positions that operate in conjunction with one another. There is a 400 x 300, 15 second Pre-Roll, a 300 x 250 companion banner that displays while the Pre-Roll is playing and a 468 x 60 leave-behind banner that remains until the next ad call is made. In order to take advantage of this ad opportunity, all three creatives are necessary. No third-party ad serving is possible but it is possible to take advantage of third-party tracking. Specifications for the creative positions and the optional tracking are provided below in the Video Submission Specification Document below. |
For Video submission, please see the Video Submission Specifications Document located towards to top of the site. | no | yes - weather tracks the following three metrics in our Video Blue Box environment: 1) Third-Party Impression Tracking: the URL that is requested when ad play begins. 2) Third-Party Click Tracking: the URL that is requested when a user clicks on an ad. 3) Third-Party Complete Tracking: the URL that is requested when the ad completes its play. |
no |
| Mobile | |||||
WAP 2.0 SMALL - Image and Text Link Banner |
All Mobile campaigns require four different Ad Sizes. These sizes are optimized to best fit the mobile phone on which the ad is being viewed. Each Ad Size for mobile must come with a Graphic and Text.
RESTRICTIONS: Linking URL must link to a mobile web (WAP) site specifically optimized for mobile phones. Linking URLs to PC-based websites will not be accepted. If you don not have a mobile wep (WAP) URL, your ad must link to a landing page. Please refer to the landing page specs for more details. |
For Mobile, the ad size is 120x20 pixels; please submit a .gif, .jpg or .png;Text up to 10 Characters; 1k Please provide actual image files and copy to your campaign specialist for creative optimization and scheduling. Our Creative Services department can create mobile banner ads for your campaign for a production fee of $1,000. For more info, please see the Mobile Submission Specs sheet. |
no | no | no |
| WAP 2.0 MEDIUM - Image and Text Link Banner | All Mobile campaigns require four different Ad Sizes. These sizes are optimized to best fit the mobile phone on which the ad is being viewed. Each Ad Size for mobile must come with a Graphic and Text.
RESTRICTIONS: Linking URL must link to a mobile web (WAP) site specifically optimized for mobile phones. Linking URLs to PC-based websites will not be accepted. If you don not have a mobile wep (WAP) URL, your ad must link to a landing page. Please refer to the landing page specs for more details. |
For Mobile, the ad size is 168x28 pixels; please submit a .gif, .jpg or .png;Text up to 12 Characters; 2k Please provide actual image files and copy to your campaign specialist for creative optimization and scheduling. Our Creative Services department can create mobile banner ads for your campaign for a production fee of $1,000. For more info, please see the Mobile Submission Specs sheet. |
no | no | no |
| WAP 2.0 LARGE - Image and Text Link Banner | All Mobile campaigns require four different Ad Sizes. These sizes are optimized to best fit the mobile phone on which the ad is being viewed. Each Ad Size for mobile must come with a Graphic and Text.
RESTRICTIONS: Linking URL must link to a mobile web (WAP) site specifically optimized for mobile phones. Linking URLs to PC-based websites will not be accepted. If you don not have a mobile wep (WAP) URL, your ad must link to a landing page. Please refer to the landing page specs for more details. |
For Mobile, the ad size is 216x36 pixels; please submit a .gif, .jpg or .png;Text up to 32 Characters; 3k Please provide actual image files and copy to your campaign specialist for creative optimization and scheduling. Our Creative Services department can create mobile banner ads for your campaign for a production fee of $1,000. For more info, please see the Mobile Submission Specs sheet. |
no | no | no |
| WAP 2.0 EXTRA LARGE - Image and Text Link Banner | All Mobile campaigns require four different Ad Sizes. These sizes are optimized to best fit the mobile phone on which the ad is being viewed. Each Ad Size for mobile must come with a Graphic and Text.
RESTRICTIONS: Linking URL must link to a mobile web (WAP) site specifically optimized for mobile phones. Linking URLs to PC-based websites will not be accepted. If you don not have a mobile wep (WAP) URL, your ad must link to a landing page. Please refer to the landing page specs for more details. |
For Mobile, the ad size is 300x50 pixels; please submit a .gif, .jpg or .png;Text up to 24 Characters; 5k Please provide actual image files and copy to your campaign specialist for creative optimization and scheduling. Our Creative Services department can create mobile banner ads for your campaign for a production fee of $1,000. For more info, please see the Mobile Submission Specs sheet. |
no | no | no |
| Standard Landing Page Submission Guidelines | Mobile Web Banners can link to your exisiting mobile web (WAP) site. If you don't have a mobile website, your ad will need to link to a landing page formatted for mobile web. We can create and host a landing page for your campaign at not additional cost.
A standard landing page inlcudes a header image and text. Direct response features such as click-to-call or an email opt-in may also be included. |
Header Image - 120x20 static gif/jpg/png; max file size 2k and 250 characters maximum. | no | no | no |
| Click-To-Call Landing Page Submission Guidelines | A standard landing page inlcudes a header image and text. Direct response features such as click-to-call or an email opt-in may also be included. |
Header Image - 120x20 static gif/jpg/png; max file size 2k and 250 characters maximum. Call to Action Text - 50 Character maximum. This copy will be displayed as the link that users will click to call. For Example: "Click here to call 800-123-4567" or "Call to make a reservation". Phone Number - area code - number; it is recommended that the advertiser provide a unique 800 number to track calls. Footer Text - 100 Character maximum. |
no | no | no |
| Email Opt-In Landing Page Submission Guidelines | A standard landing page inlcudes a header image and text. Direct response features such as click-to-call or an email opt-in may also be included. |
Header Image - 120x20 static gif/jpg/png; max file size 2k and 250 characters maximum. |
no | no | no |
| Mobile Mini Site | All mobile mini sites are created with the mLogic Microsite Builder platform in partnership with Crisp Wireless. The development of this product will begin with an initial kick-off call scheduled between you, the Account manager and the weather.com Media Solutions team. |
Header Image - 300x100, static JPG, 5k Max. Copy (per page) - 750 characters max including spaces. Page image (one per page) - 300 pixels wide, static JPG, 5k. For more details, please see our Mobile Specifications Document. |
no | no | no |
| Mobile Web Video Sponsorship | Video forecasts are available for 100 cities, as well as regional and national. Video content available “off-deck” only; the video forecast link displays on your forecast page only if your phone has video capabilities. The sponsorship includes a banner ad on the video index page plus a :05 sec billboard and :15 sec post roll within the video clips | Creative requirements are as follows for the video portion: Flash 8 flv file, Video parameter size must be 352x288; On2 Codec; 15fps; 300 kbps MP3 Audio; 44.1 kHz; Mono 96kbps. For the Homepage Video Sponsor graphic, we require a 305x64, 215x34, 167x30, 112x20 gif, jpg or png. |
no | no | no |
| Weather Email Product | |||||
| Inbox Weather | The advertising opportunity on weather Inbox includes a standard static 300x250 Medium Rectangls that can be only in .gif and .jpg format. No Rich Media or 3rd Party serving is allowed in this environment. There will also be an advertiser brand logo implemented into the email header that weather will implement. | For Inbox Weather Creatives, please submit a 300x250 .gif, looping .gif or .jpg image no more than 30K in size. An Advertiser Logo in EPS format (file size not applicable); weather.com will integrate into 600x50 branding bar header. A functional URL for click-through is also required. | no | yes | no |
| Email Alerts | The advertising opportunity on weather Inbox includes a standard static 300x250 Medium Rectangls that can be only in .gif and .jpg format. No Rich Media or 3rd Party serving is allowed in this environment. | For Email Alert Weather Creatives, please submit a 300x250 .gif, animated .gif or .jpg image no more than 30K in size. An Advertiser Logo in EPS format (file size not applicable); weather.com will integrate into 600x50 branding bar header. A functional URL for click-through is also required.. | no | yes | no |