Why YouTube Sponsors Are (Almost) Always Terrible

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Music Courtesy of: Epidemic Sound

Select Footage Courtesy of: Getty Images

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Ok so, YouTube is less than 20 years old but in that time the platform has matured a LOT, from people posting basic home videos, to today where some channels rival the production quality of Hollywood studios.

The secret ingredient that has made that all possible is money. 15 years ago it was basically impossible to make any money on YouTube which is why even the largest creators at the time were filming out of their bedrooms and making videos in addition to their regular day jobs.

AdSense integrated a system where YouTube and a very small and very select group of creators could start to share in the native advertising that was introduced to the platform in 2007.

That has since turned into a huge revenue stream for millions of channels, as the entry requirements to be a YouTube partner are now only 1,000 subscribers, and 3,000 hours of watch time on your videos.

YouTube’s directly integrated advertising has its own LOONNG list of problems, but that’s a story for another day.

For NOW, there is another way that creators are making money, and it’s by going AROUND YouTube and making deals with companies to talk about a product directly like this…

[Micro-Econ-YT]

This video was made possible by [Insert sponsor name here] sign up now for 20% off your retirement savings!

[CatFish]

The single sponsored ad read that I respect was a local New York plumbing business that sponsored a single episode of an ancient history podcast video. " if you live in X, NY, and are in need of a plumber, consider the sponsor of today's episode" and gave a phone number. It was adorable.

[countercole]

In the early 2000's I was taught that clicking ads of any kind would give my computer viruses. While that's not 100% accurate, it has helped create the immediate negative response to ads every single time I see one.

[AlesUrbanek-suir]

That Honey approval mark did not aged well

[junnybear]

the ones promoting betterhelp whilst knowing they have a vulnerable audience and saying they use it themselves when they're a youtuber with enough money to pay 5 therapists to listen to them yap at once is what's most egregious to me. that's people's mental health you're toying with for the sake of a video sponsor.

[beckobert]

Small correction: the YouTube algorithm is perfectly capable of telling positive and negative response apart, it just doesn't care, because for YouTube, engagement is engagement is engagement.

[shortycareface]

It will never cease to make me sad that there's a significant amount of people who consider "influencers" their friends

[realitypoet]

The worst part about quitting my job at Squarespace is that I still have to hear an ad for them like every day on YouTube lol

[chepbcreate]

Fairly recently- I saw a very small YouTuber (well under 1000 subscribers) who was sponsored by another YouTuber, Dax Flame. It was actually so sweet and supportive, and people went over to his channel saying "I'm here from that person's video!". That's the kind of sponsorship I'd love to see more of, bigger creators supporting smaller creators.

[SunbleachedAngel]

Nice to hear at least someone with enough balls to say "No! Your favourite influencer IS to blame!" Because they are

[WabbitSeeson]

Always feel like im skipping half of the video and they always have the same script too. I just hate that they act like they use it regularly when you know they dont.

[marekkedzierski]

Youtube sponsorships are great, they show you which products you should never buy.

[FinchFinley]

Honey getting the checkmark got me chuckling. You better update that ending lol

[ookjannesplanting]

The fact that usually you hear about a sponsor everywhere and then suddenly never anymore after a few months clued me in pretty quickly that anything that sponsors a yt vid isn't worth the effort

[jwenting]

you forget a MAJOR factor in why youtube sponsorships and ads are so often scams or junk products: this is the only way these companies can advertise at all. Advertising standards bodies and consumer protection laws exist precisely to prevent such companies advertising anywhere else!
But youtube and many of their "creators" couldn't care less, as those same regulations don't apply to them.

[Figgy]

Honey getting the certified checkmark didn't age well

[MateusChristopher]

1st Gen YouTubers were terrified of ads. Eventually it turned into "I only take on ads that I care about" and now the newest guys will shill anything because just like your favorite TV channel they have to shill anything

[Halucygeno]

YouTube sponsors are like an anti-advertisement for me. For example, the underlying concept behind Ground News actually sounds kinda useful, but they get shilled so hard that I'm almost certain they're either garbage or a scam. I don't even feel like looking further into it, I'm that confident they're not worth my time.

[readytolearn]

The most weird is betterhelp, because they either force youtubers to discuss some clamity to sell their product or the youtubers are lying to sell a product.

[PXAbstraction]

I have a simple rule: If a YouTuber is shilling it, I don't want it. This rule has served me very well.