Desktop Ads Specs

General Advertising Guidelines 

The following details creative and technical requirements for weather.com accepted standard in-banner ad formats.

  • Ads cannot be designed to blend into page content. A 1px border is required, or the ad must be clearly defined within the allowable ad space.
  • Ads may not blink, shake, flicker or flash in a disruptive manner. The look and feel of the ad cannot match the MS Windows Alert scheme or misrepresent a user's prompts as an ad. False functionality (a.k.a. fake buttons) are not allowed.
  • The action of clicking on an ad must not initiate an application download, and all clicks must spawn a new browser with the ad unit is clicked.
  • All ads are subject to review.

Additional Instructions and Guidelines

Rich Media and Third-Party Ad Serving Policy     Flash Ad Policy and Setup



Ad Size - Type Ad Name - Type Max File Size Expansion Direction if relevant
Desktop LeaderBoard A standard IAB compliant 728x90 Leaderboard can be served into this position. The LeaderBoard must expand up. At full expansion the Leader can expand up to 290px total. If the ad is going to be locally hosted with weather.com, please see the Flash Ad Policy and Set-up document above. Otherwise, please see our Rich Media and Third Party Ad Serving Policy Sheet. The 300x250 has a file size of 40k in a .swf, .gif or .jpg format. Click Thru URL and Impressions Tacking URL can be supplied as well. Flash (swf) version 10 or lower, built with a frame rate of 18.

UP only.

For the Rich Media Expandable Guidelines, click here.

Desktop Medium Rectangle A standard IAB compliant 300x250 Medium Rectangle can be served into this position. 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 above. Otherwise, please see our Rich Media and Third Party Ad Serving Policy Sheet. The 300x250 has a file size of 40k in a .swf, .gif or .jpg format. Click Thru URl and Impressions Tacking URL can be supplied as well. Flash (swf) version 10 or lower, built with a frame rate of 18.

LEFT/UP.

For the Rich Media Expandable Guidelines, click here.

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 above. Otherwise, please see our Rich Media and Third Party Ad Serving Policy Sheet. The 300x250 has a file size of 40k in a .swf, .gif or .jpg format. Click Thru URL and Impressions Tacking URL can be supplied as well. Flash (swf) version 10 or lower, built with a frame rate of 18.

LEFT/UP.

For the Rich Media Expandable Guidelines, click here.

Desktop Custom Frame As a creative element that supports the in-page ad, the Custom Frame provides an eye-catching element to the Start Sponsorship on Desktop Weather. Using similar colors and images, the two units can create an exciting user experience. A Consultation is required with our Creative Media Solutions Team in order to ensure the correct assets are supplied. The Frame element of the ad must be served in-house, and the frame must be a 1002x793px static graphic. The frame itself cannot be clickable, besides the [CLOSE] button. 3rd Party tracking is allowed on the Custom Frame Unit. n/a

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