Whatever YouTube rabbit hole you’ve spiraled down lately — gaming playthroughs, political commentary, niche eight-hour video essays — you’ve encountered an ad for virtual private network, or VPN, services. The influencers promise military grade encryption and streaming content from anywhere as long as you use code FOLLOWME10 at checkout so that they get their cut.
It’s not just anecdotal that VPN ads are everywhere on YouTube. Since the beginning of
