Online advertising company ValueClick is partnering with the National Weather Service (NWS) to provide faster and more efficient warning times for cases of extreme weather.
NWS utilizing online ad space to display storm warnings
ValueClick partners with the National Weather Service to increase tornado warning time.
When the NWS declares a tornado warning, the information is electronically sent within milliseconds to ValueClicks’s servers which then push the warning information to ad spaces on the internet. The service is location based, and sends the information only to computers in the path of the tornado. This technology works with all browsers both desktop and mobile that have cookies enabled. Mobile in-app adds are not yet supported but will be in the future.
The warnings show up just like you would see an ad appear while you are browsing the internet. The warning pulses red, and includes the option of an alarm sounding and a voice reading the warning information for the visually impaired.
Currently, the service is only being used for tornado warnings and amber alerts, but will be expanded in the future.
The NWS and ValueClick hope that by utilizing this technology they will be able to increase warning time and save lives.
