The State of Ad Fraud in Luxury Travel

Luxury travel brands face some of the highest invalid traffic rates of any sector, with bots and excessive clickers consuming millions in wasted spend each year.

Research shows that travel advertisers experience some of the highest invalid traffic rates across industries, bots account for up to 80 % of invalid traffic in the travel sector, compared to 15–30 % in other industries, leading to millions in wasted ad spend that could otherwise fuel genuine growth.

If you want to read more about ad fraud in the travel industry, download the guide.

‍

The Challenge

A leading luxury travel company was investing heavily in paid search to attract high-value customers. However, the advertiser’s premium keywords were being hijacked by bots and repeat visitors, driving up acquisition costs and diverting budget away from new customers.

‍

The Solution‍

By implementing TrafficGuard’s PPC protection, the brand was able to:

• Set custom click-frequency thresholds, ensuring repeat visitors (including bots) could no longer overconsume ad budget.
• Automatically block fraudulent clicks in real time, stopping waste before it happens.
• Redirect saved budget into acquiring genuine new customers, without disrupting ongoing campaigns.

‍

The Results‍

In just 12 weeks, the luxury travel company saw transformative results:

• $2.6 million saved from limiting paid clicks by returning users
• $208,000 reclaimed from blocking bot-driven ad fraud
• 15 % of total budget saved and reinvested in new customer acquisition
• 47× ROI, before factoring in the incremental lifetime value of new customers

TrafficGuard turned wasted ad spend into strategic growth, assuring the brand that every dollar invested in search delivered genuine value. 

While luxury travel advertisers often see up to 15% of budgets lost to invalid traffic, this brand reduced exposure to less than 2% with TrafficGuard.
‍

Turning Wasted Spend Into Measurable Growth

"When you stop preventing invalid traffic, by default you’re investing in bots and the same set of returning users again and again. That means fewer net new users and weaker ROAS. TrafficGuard helped us turn that around."

Want to see how much budget you could rescue?
Reach out to the team, and start your free two-week audit today.