Travel companies have ramped up their digital ad spend levels over the course of this year, with Expedia Group ranking as travel's top spender in recent months, according to data from digital ad intelligence platform Pathmatics.
Pathmatics reports that the overall travel category has more than doubled its digital ad investment since January, collectively spending approximately $480.6 million between May 1 and Aug. 20 alone. That spend was spread across various channels, including direct advertising, Google's AdX and AdSense platforms and Verizon Media, among others.
Expedia outspent all other travel brands by a wide margin over that period, spending nearly $94 million.
Coming in second in terms of ad spend from May 1 though Aug. 20 was Disney Theme Parks & Resorts, which funneled $21.6 million toward advertising, while Airbnb ranked third, spending $17.7 million.
The most popular site for travel advertising during the nearly four-month period was Facebook, which drew around $157.5 million in digital travel ad spend. Following Facebook were Instagram and YouTube, which each attracted approximately $95 million in digital travel ad spend between May 1 and Aug. 20.
Year to date, the travel category has spent just over $844.7 million in digital advertising, with Expedia again accounting for the largest share of that spend at close to $165.8 million for the year through Aug. 20, according to Pathmatics.