Case Study
How WeatherBug Generated Revenue One Day After Deploying Stay22’s Nova
Goals
-
Capture the travel intent already happening on WeatherBug without disrupting the user experience or cannibalizing existing ad revenue.
Results
-
Stay22’s Nova now contributes six figures worth of revenue to WeatherBug’s total revenue
-
Same-month revenue grew by 49% year over year
-
No cannibalization of existing ad inventory
"Checking the weather is often the first step in travel planning and before booking has happened. Serving accommodation options when planning intent is highest results in a service WeatherBug users happily take advantage of."
Mapping a Better Journey
Weatherbug.com
Executive Summary
WeatherBug was seeing travel intent in everyday weather checks, but none of that intent was generating affiliate revenue. Stay22’s Nova now contributes six figures worth of revenue to WeatherBug’s total revenue without giving up ad inventory or degrading the user experience. What started as a way to monetize overlooked travel intent also gave the team new visibility into where its audience was actually booking, opening up another layer of insight for advertiser prospecting.
Background
Weather checks often come before the booking search and continue long after the bags are packed. Users check 10-day forecasts for weekend trips, track ski conditions in Colorado or Vermont, or plan a tropical Caribbean getaway to escape from the cold. WeatherBug serves millions of monthly web users with hyper-local forecasts, storm alerts, radar, and other weather insights. Its web business is built around digital advertising.
Nova’s one-line code integration
WeatherBug’s web engineers deployed Nova with a single line of code, and the new earning channel took off from there. Hotel listings opened in a new tab, and a 30-day frequency cap kept regular visitors from seeing the experience repeatedly. Flavia Malvatani, Senior Partner Success Executive, supported the team through early troubleshooting and stayed responsive as product updates changed how Nova functioned on the site.
The results
Nova turned previously unmonetized travel intent into a measurable new revenue stream without changing how WeatherBug’s core business worked.
-
Consistent revenue, reliably generates monthly revenue
-
Contributes six figures to the total WeatherBug revenue
-
1 day from deploy to first revenue
-
No cannibalization of existing digital ad inventory
What the Stay22 data revealed
Stay22’s booking data also showed WeatherBug where users were actually traveling, including destinations like Las Vegas and New York. WeatherBug could previously see which locations users checked on the site, but not where they ultimately booked.
The team now uses that booking behavior in advertiser prospecting. If WeatherBug can show that its audience is traveling to a specific market, it gives the sales team a stronger reason to approach advertisers there.
Nova also helped travelers get out of harm's way. During hurricane season, WeatherBug saw users in storm paths booking hotels through Nova as they looked for somewhere to go outside the affected area. It was an unexpected example of how quickly a weather check can turn into booking a way out of incoming danger.
What’s next
Weather tracking is part of the whole travel planning operation. WeatherBug is redesigning its app and exploring a travel and tourism section, which could open the door to a future Stay22 mobile integration. For now, the team is continuing to use Nova on the web while building on what the booking data has already shown about where its audience travels.