Investigating Influencer VPN Ads on YouTube

One widespread, but frequently overlooked, source of security information is influencer marketing ads on YouTube for security and privacy products such as VPNs. This paper examines how widespread these ads are, where on YouTube they are found, and what kind of information they convey. Starting from a random sample of 1.4% of YouTube, we identify 243 videos containing VPN ads with a total of 63 million views. Using qualitative analysis, we find that these ads commonly discuss broad security guarantees as well as specific technical features, frequently focus on internet threats, and sometimes emphasize accessing otherwise unavailable content. Different VPN companies tend to advertise in different categories of channels and emphasize different messages. We find a number of potentially misleading claims, including overpromises and exaggerations that could negatively influence viewers’ mental models of internet safety.