Recently, there has been a little confusion about the relationship between Earth Networks (the company) and WeatherBug (the brand).
In late 2016, Earth Networks sold the WeatherBug brand to xAd (now known as Ground Truth).
Ground Truth now operates and manages the WeatherBug consumer brand that millions of people use on their mobile phones. Earth Networks continues to focus on building the world’s largest proprietary weather networks, enabling businesses and governments to automate weather-influenced decisions across the globe. Here’s a brief history of the relationship between Earth Networks and WeatherBug over the past 20+ years.
A Brief History of Earth Networks and the WeatherBug Brand
Founded in 1993, Earth Networks started in the education market by pioneering a program that installed professional-grade weather stations at schools and then networked them together. Earth Networks then created the WeatherBug brand and used it to launch a rigorous curriculum that met national and state education standards for grades K-12. For a long time, WeatherBug was the face of Earth Networks efforts to share weather data with schools, broadcast partners, and the general public.
In 2000, the WeatherBug brand became the forefront of Earth Networks consumer business with the WeatherBug desktop application. This application, which eventually expanded into mobile as well, reported real-time weather data from thousands of Earth Networks environmental sensors around the world. This was an easy, reliable way for everyday folks to get weather information for the locations that mattered to them most.
After creating, perfecting, and using the WeatherBug mobile and desktop applications to help consumers get hyperlocal weather data, Earth Networks sold the brand in 2016 to focus more on mitigating weather-related risks for businesses and governments.
Today, Earth Networks retains ownership of the over 10,000 weather stations and sensors that continue to power applications such as WeatherBug throughout the world.
In replacement of the WeatherBug Schools Program and Achieve, Earth Networks now offers weather-based curriculum through integration with the GLOBE program. Interested schools can contact us to learn more.
By selling WeatherBug, Earth Networks is now able to focus on safety and decision-making in a whole new way. Earth Networks offers more advanced and detailed weather software and hardware for businesses like schools, airports, community emergency management, and sports facilities to mitigate financial, operational, and human risk.
Please visit our products page to learn more about our innovative and life-saving decision-making tools. You can also visit our industries page to learn more about the businesses and governments we work with. If you are especially interested in our work abroad, explore our global partners.