Why brands like Anheuser-Busch are taking more advertising in-house

Hi! Welcome to the Insider Advertising daily for August 11. I'm Lauren Johnson, a senior advertising reporter at Business Insider. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Send me feedback or tips at ljohnson@businessinsider.com

Today's news: Marketers bet on in-housing, how much adtech companies pay employees, and sponsored content for travel brands returns.

Big brands like Anheuser-Busch and Verizon are taking more of their advertising in-house amid the pandemic, and it's adding to the troubles of struggling ad agencies

• As marketers cut costs due to COVID-19, Tanya Dua reported that more marketers are taking functions like ad-buying and creative in-house.
• One example is Anheuser-Busch, which used its in-house agency, Draftline, at the beginning of the pandemic to change its messaging and crank out 500 digital ads in one week.
• The increased speed to in-housing is another blow to ad agencies, which are under pressure to keep up with clients' changing needs like allowing marketers to control their data and messaging.

Read the full story here.

Adtech salaries revealed: How much The Trade Desk, Roku and others pay employees, from software engineers to product managers

• Patrick Coffee and I looked at how much big adtech companies pay foreign employees by digging through the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification's 2019 disclosure data.
• The data comprises a variety of technical roles from engineering to product management for six adtech companies: Amobee, Magnite, MediaMath, Roku, The Trade Desk, and Xandr.
• The Trade Desk and Roku have combined market caps that exceed ad agency holding companies Publicis, Omnicom, and Interpublic Group.

Read the full story here.

Sponsored travel content from influencers has rebounded 34% from its April low. But controversy has come with it.

• A new report from influencer-marketing firm Izea found that the amount of travel and tourism sponsored content from influencers has rebounded since the travel industry ground to a halt this spring.
• Hotels in particular have seen an uptick in sponsored content, reported Sydney Bradley.
• Still, influencer groups like Clubhouse BH are at the center of controversies around traveling during the pandemic.

Read the full story here.

More stories we're reading:

• Disney's decision to debut 'Mulan' on Disney Plus for $30 could mean big changes for movie theaters, but the economics of high-price digital releases are daunting (Business Insider)
• Shopify's CEO says Amazon isn't a competitor, but Amazon's CEO says it is. Here's what experts say the real relationship is. (Business Insider)
• McDonald's files lawsuit against former CEO alleging he had multiple sexual relationships with employees and lied to investigators (Business Insider)
• WarnerMedia layoffs expected to hit Warner Bros., HBO (Variety)
• Tech's reluctant road to taking on Trump (Axios)
• With the college football season in doubt, marketers plan for multiple scenarios (Ad Age)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at ljohnson@businessinsider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.

— Lauren