As the travel industry gears up for a busy year in 2023, it is also bracing for increased cyberattacks and ad fraud. In 2022, the global travel advertising expenditure grew 36 percent, but the industry now faces a $127 billion global ad fraud problem. This is causing significant concerns for businesses of all sizes in the travel industry, from two-person start-ups to multinational corporations.

According to research from TrafficGuard, bots account for up to 80 percent of all invalid traffic for travel advertisers. This starkly contrasts the 15-30 percent affecting other industries. Mathew Ratty, the co-founder and CEO of TrafficGuard, notes that the travel industry is particularly vulnerable due to the proliferation of unauthorized online travel agencies (OTAs) and the sheer number of app and mobile experiences used to target key customers.

IVT-Calculator

Additionally, up to one-fifth of clicks on ads/campaigns can be fake, resulting in a false sense of success for marketers. Travel businesses often spend big on pay-per-install performance networks, which are paid a fee for every installation they drive. However, these networks deliver over 50 percent invalid traffic on average, resulting in fraudulent installs and misattribution of post-install events such as flight and hotel bookings.

To help businesses understand the impact of ad fraud and invalid traffic on their budgets, TrafficGuard has developed an industry-first calculator. The calculator uncovers the scale of the problem for every type of business, from e-commerce-focused SMEs to enterprise-level companies with seven-figure marketing spends. It asks for the major digital marketing channels a business uses, industry, region, and monthly spending to accurately estimate how much money could be wasted.

As cyber criminals and ad fraud players continue to target the travel industry, businesses must take steps to protect themselves. This includes investing in robust fraud detection tools and regularly monitoring their online presence. Failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and damage their brand reputation.

Written by: Stephen Morton

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