Industry Statistics

The State of Click Fraud in Telecom

Click fraud in telecom acts as a direct tax on your ARPU. From competitor bots scraping your plans to existing customers using paid ads to log in, your budget is often wasted on behaviour that generates zero new revenue.

Without specialised click fraud software, your bidding algorithms optimise toward log-ins rather than new acquisitions. In an industry with rising CPCs and capped subscriber value, this waste quietly erodes your profit per user.

20–40%

Of paid clicks

on telecom brand keywords are non-incremental

2x–4x

Increase in paid traffic spikes

during network outages or service disruptions

15–30%

Of total paid search spend

is often consumed by existing subscribers logging in

£172 Billion

Projected global ad spend

lost to fraud by 2028

From Wasted Spend to Performance Control

How TrafficGuard Eliminates Invalid Traffic and Protects ARPU for Telecom and Mobile Operators?

Competitors Scrape Plans and Pricing via Paid Ads

Competitor bots scrape your plans and device offers via paid ads—often accounting for 25% of your traffic. This means you are inadvertently funding competitor intelligence and price undercutting.

Blocking Competitor Scraping Bots in Telecom Advertising

TrafficGuard delivers real-time click fraud protection that blocks scrapers before they land. We protect your latest offers and ensure your high-CPC budget isn't fueling competitor spreadsheets.

Paid Log-ins by Existing Users Drain Acquisition Budgets

The Problem: Existing subscribers use paid brand ads as a shortcut to log in, accounting for 15% to 30% of your total search spend. These clicks generate zero incremental revenue and quietly erode your profit per subscriber.

Blocking Paid Navigation from Existing Subscribers

We apply user-level validation to cap paid behaviour once it becomes unprofitable. By stopping repeat navigation from current customers, we redirect your spend toward net-new subscriber acquisition.

Outage-Driven Budget Spikes

Service disruptions trigger instant surges in paid navigation, with volumes spiking 2 to 4 times normal levels in minutes. These "outage spikes" cause massive spend blowouts that manual responses cannot stop in time.

Preventing Outage-Driven Spend Spikes in Telecom

TrafficGuard features outage resilience that provides automatic defence during service disruptions. Our real-time surge protection absorbs abnormal behaviour instantly, preventing "outage-driven" spend spikes from exhausting your daily budget on non-revenue-generating clicks.

Polluted Signals Corrupt Bidding and Inflate CPA

When log-ins and bot activity mix with conversion data, bidding algorithms learn from the wrong intent. This pollution can inflate your CPA by 20% or more as models optimise toward low-value existing users.

Protecting Bidding Algorithms from Polluted Conversion Data

We restore clean optimisation signals by removing invalid traffic before it enters your bidding models. This ensures your algorithms learn from true acquisition intent, stabilising your CAC and protecting your margins.

Real Results Across Industries I Telecom

Real Results for Telecom

TrafficGuard helps telecom brands to protect high-CPC paid acquisition from bots, invalid clicks, and unprofitable paid behaviour. By blocking invalid traffic in real time, every click supports cleaner optimisation signals, stable bidding strategies, and predictable customer acquisition without increasing spend.

27%

Reduction in invalid clicks

20%

Paid search budget reused more effectively

13%

ROI

When Brand Search Stops Driving Growth: How Zain KSA Reclaimed Wasted PPC Spend

How To Start?

Protect Your Telcom Campaigns With TrafficGuard

Explore Our Plans Details
Unlock Your Protection

TrafficGuard have different plans for different needs, choose the one that fits you best

What to expect during the audit period?

integration
DAY 1
Integration Setup
invalid traffic audit
DAY 2
Invalid Traffic Audit
(2 weeks)
check-in
DAY 7
Mid-Audit Check-In
Results
DAY 15
Audit Results & Recommendation

How to set up tracking?

Essential Step
Track Essential Steps | TrafficGuard
Adding TrafficGuard tracking template across all of your campaigns
Recommended Step
Tracking Recommended Step | TrafficGuard
Adding JS tag (conversion snippets) to your website to track users post flux behavior. Unlock our full funnel solution.

Choose Plan

We have multiple plans to meet your needs.

Explore Our Plans Details
Unlock Your Protection

TrafficGuard have different plans for different needs, choose the one that fits you best

In-depth Audit

Timeline of getting your site’s in-depth audit results.

What To Expect During the Audit Period?

integration
DAY 1
Integration
invalid traffic audit
DAY 2
Invalid Traffic Audit
(2 weeks)
check-in
DAY 7
Check-in
Results
DAY 15
The Results

How To Set Up

Simple steps to set up tracking. Enjoy our full funnel solution for your Telecom campaigns.

How to set up tracking?

Essential Step
Track Essential Steps | TrafficGuard
Adding TrafficGuard tracking template across all of your campaigns
Recommended Step
Tracking Recommended Step | TrafficGuard
Adding JS tag (conversion snippets) to your website to track users post flux behavior. Unlock our full funnel solution.

Recommended Resources

Stay up to date with TrafficGuard's latest resources on click fraud protection for telecom marketers.

Trusted by Leading Telecom Brands

FAQs of TrafficGuard for Telecom Brands

Can’t find what you are looking for? Go to our support page to learn more.

What is click fraud in the telecom industry?

In telecom, click fraud involves bots, automated scripts, or competitors clicking on your paid ads with no intent to subscribe. This often includes price-scraping bots monitoring your latest plans and non-incremental clicks from users using paid ads as a shortcut to log in.

How do paid log-ins impact telecom ad spend and ARPU?

Existing subscribers often click paid brand ads to access their accounts or check plan details. These "paid log-ins" can account for 15% to 30% of your total search spend, acting as a direct tax on your ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) without generating any new revenue.

Why are brand keywords heavily abused in telecom advertising?

Telecom brand terms are high-traffic targets for competitor scraping and existing user re-navigation. Between 20% and 40% of paid clicks on these keywords can be non-incremental, meaning you are paying for traffic that would have likely converted via organic search anyway.

How does TrafficGuard protect budgets during network outages?

Service disruptions trigger immediate spikes in paid navigation as customers search for account access. TrafficGuard provides real-time surge protection that absorbs these 2x to 4x volume spikes instantly, preventing massive budget blowouts that manual responses are too slow to stop.

Can’t Google Ads already filter out telecom bot traffic?

Google filters basic invalid traffic but cannot distinguish between a high-value prospect and an existing customer using a paid ad to log in. Specialised software is required to cap unprofitable behaviour and block competitor scraping bots that mimic human activity to monitor your pricing.

What is the impact of "polluted signals" on telecom bidding strategies?

When log-ins and bot data mix with your conversion signals, bidding algorithms learn from the wrong intent. This can inflate your CPA by 20% or more, as automated models start overbidding on low-value segments instead of net-new acquisitions.

Does click fraud protection stop customers from accessing their accounts?

No. We do not block your customers; we stop the paid behaviour that destroys margin. By capping the number of times a user can trigger a paid click for navigation, we ensure they still reach your site while protecting your acquisition budget.

 Is click fraud prevention worth it for low-margin telecom plans? 

In telecom, ARPU is capped while CPCs are rising. Because margins are thin, every pound wasted on a bot or a repeat log-in is margin lost. Click fraud prevention is essential to maintain acquisition efficiency andtra profitable subscriber growth.

Ready To Protect Your Ad Spend?

Safeguard your budget from bots, bonus abusers, and fraudulent clicks. Contact us to customise a solution that fits your business needs.