Online Ad Specs - Video Advertisting - The Weather Channel Advertising Media Kit

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

Video Ad Specs

Ad Name	Description	File Type Requirements	3rd Party Tracking
Video Pre-roll Product	The advertising opportunity in the Weather.com video player consists of two separate positions that operate in conjunction with one another. There is a 640x360 Pre-Roll, and a 300x250 companion banner that remains until the next ad call is made. In order to take advantage of this ad opportunity, both creatives are necessary. Third-party ad serving is possible for the 300x250 unit and it is possible to take advantage of third-party tracking for the Pre-Roll unit. Specifications for the creative positions and the optional tracking are provided in the Video Submission Specs Document.	Required Assets for this product include the Video Pre-Roll file itself along with the companion ad; a 300x250 IAB Compliant Ad Unit. The video formats requires a 15: or 30: Second Video PreRoll. Click tracking URLs and impression tracking URLs for Pre-Roll. Weather.com supports VAST 1.0 and VAST 2.0 from pre-approved vendors only. Please contact your account executive or campaign specialist to find out if your vendor is approved. Preferred Video Format: Quicktime-contained H.264 (or comparable) 640x360 or larger; 16:9 aspect ratio preferred but not required 30 frames per second 800 kbps The 300x250 can be third-party served or can be in one of the following formats: SWF, JPG, GIF. These assets must be submitted to weather.com at least 5 days prior to launch. For more information, please contact your Weather.com Account Executive.	300x250 unit can be Third Party Served. Pre-roll can be Third Party Tracked: Start, Mid and End tracking available.
Variable Video Pre-roll Product	Available only during severe weather situations, Weather's Video allows for a quick upload for your advertising opportunity for extended Pre-Roll reach during extreme Video Content play. For the variable video product, you have the option to run with, or without companion units.	Required Assets for this product include the Video Pre-Roll file itself along with the companion ad; a 300x250 IAB Compliant Ad Unit. The video formats requires a 15: or :30 Second Video PreRoll. Click tracking URLs and impression tracking URLs for Pre-Roll. Weather.com supports VAST 1.0 and VAST 2.0 from pre-approved vendors only. Please contact your account executive or campaign specialist to find out if your vendor is approved. Preferred Video Format: Quicktime-contained H.264 (or comparable) 640x360 or larger; 16:9 aspect ratio preferred but not required 30 frames per second 800 kbps The 300x250 can be third-party served or can be in one of the following formats: SWF, JPG, GIF. These assets must be submitted to weather.com at least 5 days prior to launch. For more information, please contact your Weather.com Account Executive.	300x250 unit can be Third Party Served. Pre-roll can be Third Party Tracked: Start, Mid and End tracking available.
Branded Open Pre-roll Product	The Branded Open can be used when the advertiser does not have a video pre-roll asset available but still wishes to sponsor content in the Weather.com video player. The Branded Open is a 640x360 pre-roll consisting of a five-second "brought to you by" image used in place of a traditional video advertisement. Specifications for the creative positions and the optional tracking are provided in the Video Submission Specs Document.	Required Assets for this product include: A 640x360 PSD or high-quality image containing a 407x273 "safe area" centered horizontally and vertically. TWC can provide a template upon request. The "safe area" must have a white background and only display the advertiser's logo. TWC will produce a :05-second pre-roll displaying the advertiser's logo and the phrase Brought to you by:. The Branded Open should not contain messaging or advertising content other than the company's logo and slogan. The Branded Open PSD must be submitted to TWC at least five (5) days prior to launch, to allow time for production and encoding. The phrase Brought to you by:, the size of the safe area, and the white background are set by the TWC video production department and unfortunately cannot be modified in any way. Please send a destination URL along with any click and impression trackers.	The Branded Open can be Third Party Tracked: Start, Mid and End tracking available. Third Party serving is not available for this product.

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