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Google > Case Studies > AccuWeather delivers enhanced value to advertisers with DoubleClick for Publishers + Google Analytics 360

AccuWeather delivers enhanced value to advertisers with DoubleClick for Publishers + Google Analytics 360

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Data-as-a-Service
Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Demand Planning & Forecasting

Services

Data Science Services

The Challenge

AccuWeather, a company that provides real-time weather news and information to more than a billion people worldwide, wanted to provide additional value to advertisers and boost ad revenue on its website. The team wanted to better understand the weather needs of visitors so that they could match them with more specific and relevant messages from ad partners. However, before linking their DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) account with Google Analytics 360, AccuWeather couldn’t easily see the intersection of this data or how the behavior of various website visitors affected its revenue.

About The Customer

AccuWeather is a company that provides real-time weather news and information to more than a billion people worldwide through its website and popular suite of apps. In 2015, AccuWeather was ranked number one for accurate high temperature forecasts by ForecastWatch, a leading third-party weather forecast monitoring and assessment company. The company is headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania. Every day over 1.5 billion people rely on AccuWeather to help them plan their lives, protect their businesses, and get more from their day. AccuWeather provides up-to-the-minute forecasts on smartphones, tablets, connected TVs as well as via radio, television, and newspapers around the world.

The Solution

AccuWeather linked its DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) account with Google Analytics 360. DFP is used to manage and serve ads across its entire website, while Analytics 360 helps it understand user behavior on its website. When the AccuWeather team linked the two accounts, DFP metrics like revenue and CPM began to flow directly into its Analytics 360 account. This integration gave the team unique insight into the value of certain audience segments for different advertiser verticals. For example, they were able to see that revenue per 1,000 sessions rose by 45% when two new companies began advertising on AccuWeather.com. This revenue increase was driven by users who were actively in-market to travel and were looking at weather in “exotic” locations such as Turks & Caicos and Barbados.

Operational Impact

AccuWeather found that integrating DFP and Analytics 360 gave its team unique insight into the value of certain audience segments for different advertiser verticals.
The team was able to create highly tailored advertising packages with high-value unique audience segments that sales teams can sell directly or through programmatic marketplaces like DoubleClick Ad Exchange.
AccuWeather used Analytics 360 data to build a custom audience, blending those who had been exposed to that company’s ads on its website with location data to reach the right users.

Quantitative Benefit

On average, revenue per 1,000 sessions rose by 45% when two new companies began advertising on AccuWeather.com.
An advertiser learned that those who saw its ad on AccuWeather.com were actually 6.5 times more likely than the typical user to buy its product within the next 30 days.