Nord VPN and many others.

I've explored the YouTube analytics and it suggests that about 21% of the revenue is from YT premium.

Big Clive

Thank you. I don't necessarily have a problem with sponsorship, but the VPN marketing is dishonest and always jarring, even from people who manage to make the sponsorship bits fun enough to listen to in general.

Frank Gevaerts

I was using Tunnel 🐻 Seemed alright but subs up for renewal and don't use it enough to justify the payment. Also YT premium subscriber. Just coz I cannot stomach ads any more having had a lifetime of them. Asked an American Channel I supported for a time if they got any $ from YT Premium & they said no. Probably because most of their content is drmonitised, at a guess

Robert

My ISP has a free VPN service that I use when I use public WiFi. That’s the only time I feel the need to use one.

Dave Pursley

Hehe "Dirtybigclive.com" I think that'd be a different type of website

I think I do get a percentage from YouTube Red if they still call it that.

Big Clive

I really appreciate what you're doing with the channel. It's worth saying, I think, that if you do find yourself in a place where you need/want to include advertising and you find a way that it works for you, that's completely fine too. If it comes down to keeping the lights on and snacks in the cupboard at Chez Clive, I'm happy for you to be able to do that if you change your mind later.

I use a VPN that really does not keep logs. The proof was that they could not supply logs when ordered to do so by a court. There are many shady VPNs out there.

I am on the YouTube monthly subscription, do you get any revenue from users such as myself?

Christopher Smith

I've done a bit of research: "NordVPN, which is based in Panama"... I wonder how many Panama residents work there?

Stephen Eyles

I wish I was. It would be the ultimate accolade for the trashiest electronics channel on YouTube.

Big Clive

Tom Scott said it well: https://youtu.be/WVDQEoe6ZWY (He’s a popular computing specialist (and many other things) YouTuber, video title “This Video Is Sponsored By [blank] VPN”)

PeteyPak

Really appreciate it Clive. For some reason a paid promotion would seem extra weird coming from you, I think. And FWIW, I have been using Private Internet Access for years and it's been great and cheap. If they started pushing intrusive ads like Nord does, I'd probably drop them. Can't stand pushy ads. I've dropped companies before for doing that.

John Ridley

Good on you Clive. And in any case for those thinking of getting a VPN, they wont save you. Tom Scott has a good video about this. If you want to block a lot of shonky actors, get Peerblock.

Ðementation

Your independence of mind, pocket and spirit are appreciated, and an inspiration. Thank-you Clive for making whatever video you like!

Mike Page

I have recently become disappointed with a couple of my YouTube favorites succumbing to the latest advertising wave. Thanks for your integrity. Yours is my only patreon subscription and I'd pay more if I could. Your videos and projects have bouyed and moved my own interests forward to a very large degree.

Michael Thompson

Like you I am a YT premium subscriber. I read somewhere that this is also good for contene creators, I hink monetization works differently. Don't know the details. I am very glad there is no add content in Clive's videos. Since I pay for Premium I often don't know what (controversial) ads people are talking about.

Simplisafe, Curiosity Stream, oLight, Brilliant.org, NordVPN, World of Tanks, Squarespace.com, dashlane and a few others come to mind when thinking about crazy annoying youtube advertisers. I wouldn't use any of those services as a matter of principle, because i don't want my money wasted for advertising, especially not something important as a VPN or a home security system. I can't believe that NordVPN is still able to find people who are willing to shill their services, they must pay so well that it is hard for people to say no now. For everyone watching youtube on their PC i have found a wonderful Addon just yesterday that actually automatically skips Sponsored sections of a video, and it works wonders! https://sponsor.ajay.app/ Maybe some of you want to add it to their browsers. You can also Whitelist channels if you so desire ^^

Daniel Rotskas

I've gone over to the Dark Side and I've been subscribed to YouTube Premium for some time now and let me tell you it is absolute heaven to quick-start all videos without advertisements and not have to worry about advertisements during or after the video. That is definitely worth the cost of YT Premium in my life. Yes, I know you can block them in browsers but not in the YT apps on my iPad (even with PiHole running on my network). Trust me, I tried blocking them before purchasing YT Premum but before I did so, watching videos on YT was so stressful, not anymore though.

Robert K

My thoughts exactly. VPNs have their uses, but they are not going to thwart a very skilled attack. Good for geo-fencing of sites, but the ones who are not fenced are becoming rarer as the days go by

Rocco Rizzo

VPN services in general are really pushing it with a lot of their claims. They have uses, such as when you don't trust your immediate connectivity provider to not try snooping details of sites you're visiting or launching MITM attacks on HTTPS connections. This does require you to trust your VPN provider, and of course the entire path from them to whatever servers you're actually talking to is also susceptible. So, yeah. They have a use, but they have distinct limitations and you really need to know about them if you're going to use one. Getting around geo-fencing of sites is also another thing they're useful for. Although I've noticed some sites are smart enough to detect when you're behind one of the more mainstream VPN services.

Chris Crowther

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I genuinely appreciate your stance on this, and agree. It is annoying to watch those ads buried in the videos. The only thing that I can say on the other side, is that some folks who take these ads often use the funding that they get from ads to show us things that they would not have been able to afford to show us without the ads. I liken it to free TV, as opposed to public TV. Ads pay for free TV, and you pay for public TV. Now it's becoming the same thing with YouTube. Oh well, that's capitalism for you.

Rocco Rizzo

I genuinely, and I mean genuinely, thought you were supported by Poundland.

I've stopped watching a lot of channels because of these stupid adverts. It's a real shame that they have to do it and are losing subscribers because of it. If I could become a Patreon to enjoy their videos ad free I probably would but that isn't an option and would be a massive pain to do for editing I'm sure. There are only two channels I tolerate ads for (hydraulic press and electroboom) because it's worth it imo. But I am slowly getting tired of it

Simon Howroyd

Clive... I support you because of several reasons. You have two cats !. Your videos are interesting and informing. YOU speak your mind !!! Keep up the good work Clive. Albert

Don't worry about VPN service gathering secured data, at best they can only see what your ISP sees when you don't use VPN, all the HTTPS connection is encrypted and no one other than your browser and the destination's web server can read it

Nguyen Quang Minh

I 100% agree about mid video promotions, which are becoming the cancer of youtube. Just this week I unsubscribed from two channels I had watched for years. One of them (a woodworking channel) started touting some stupid video game for 2 minutes, that's nothing to do with their content. I find that totally disengaging. They already had 1 million+ viewers and a healthy Patreon income. It just feels like they are double dipping, and selling their audience out. What I don't mind so much is if youtubers mention a brand sponsor, without going through a script, that is something they genuinely use and relevant to the channel, and takes no more than a couple of seconds.

I like the fact he isn't wasting money on doing the whole 4k thing. Last year franlab was begging for money as she was being kicked out from her place. Then she bought a brand new, all singing all dancing camera.

Neil Tonks

Good one, let us know if you need more money.

Dylan

To me, the main reason your videos are still instant-watch videos is that you stayed true to your style and approach. It somehow taints a channel for me when they start to advertise sponsors. Even if I really like the channel and grant them the money.

MrTridac

The Smokin' pussies gang are the only group of fem-vigilantes with odd super-powers that I actively support.

Big Clive

I initially avoided the unskippable ads because some were offensively long. When they reduced them to a sensible level I enabled them, but initially only one or the other showed. They seem to be pushing more adverts now. I guess it's what pays for the service.

Big Clive

Every dollar counts and is greatly appreciated.

Big Clive

I prefer to buy the PCBs so I can experience what other people would when they ordered. I don't want preferential treatment.

Big Clive

I've no problem mentioning Tom's channel on mine. It's very good quality.

Big Clive

Thank you for not buying into the many false claims made by many otherwise trustworthy educators.

Simon Mikkelsen

I think its hilarious when I see three utube creators spew almost the same pitch for a company word for word. A few years ago a lot of creators , some with families, changed their whole life to go full time creators depending entirely on ad revenue, and in a panic because they had become late or way behind on bills jumped on chance to make money. A lot if them even quit you utube and went back to full time. Very few like Dave Jones from day one of going full time made sure little of his income came from utube and didn't have to quit or push some service or product. Now that utube is not getting income from ads because people have figured out how continue without its ads, for example Patreon 💥,utube is only concerned about large commercial entities, even removing ads from " Partners " some with over a million subs. It really burns me 🤬 how it treats its creators like making it almost impossible to communicate with a human. This is long enough, Thanks for the vids Clive !

Cleveland Prescott

The real question I want to know is, do the members of the “Smokin Pussies Gang” use their product? 😆

Lostngone

I really like that you dont use alot of promotion in your videos :) that would make it awkward. If you dont have enough money just tell us and at least me (and probably alot others) will help you out

Leon Schutte

I have noticed there has been a lot of ads being pushed ATM on you tube 1 you can't skip and one you can

Neil Tonks

I have a shed full of interesting/useful stuff lol

Neil Tonks

Definitely worth the pittance I pay. 😁 Always good takey-aparty content and a fine nose for sniffing out Chinese tat. What more could we ask for? 🤗 I have to say I've bought a few interesting and/or useful things you've "recommended" as good examples of their type.

Back when Patreon went through their attempted fee covering debacle and I heard about how much of the monthly amount got eaten by fees (about 35c of the first $, maybe more, I was surprised) I upped it right then and there. If you support Clive and want to cover the fees, consider upping it 50c to $1 higher, especially if you pledge $1 or equivalent local currency.

Clive you will always have my support. I just wish to God I could give more. Thank you brother!

Your lack of ads is the main reason I subscribed at a level above the minimum. Getting addicted to advertising can ruin a channel. I certainly hope you can keep this channel going. Feel free though to endorse any product you truly feel worthy. Just be clear about it if you are being paid.

Bill Kerr

Fully appreciated. I noticed recently that alot of the channels I subscribe to on YouTube were pushing a bare PCB manufacturer. It took me a while to realise this was because they had all been offered free PCBs.

John Russell

i hate adverts so use an adblocker which sadly i know hurts some content providers, however using Patreon and/or buying merch gives me that freedom of choice..... i admire your loyalty to your own beliefs rather than your pocket

Julian Butler

I only just pledged a week ago, so my first donation hasn't even gone through just yet, but seeing this makes me happy to give a big old preemptive thank you!

Massively appreciate your stance on this! <3

I really like that you don't waste time doing a cold open, title sequence, credits and end screens. We're here for the content, not padding and ads :)

At the risk of cross promotion, have you seen Tom Scott's VPN anti-spot?

William Wallace

I agree with every single word. Keep following your compass.

Frank

Mr M, while we're discussing sponsorship stuff, could I suggest a Patreon video about what you sponsor, and how they're doing?

Andy Brown

No, thank you Clive. A true public service broadcaster!

Antonios, you (through BigClive) already sponsor children's sports on IoM.

Andy Brown

I have but a couple shekels to share and support creators I value. I feel this is a great channel, and would never begrudge you for reaping more financial rewards from your content. But that's my opinion, and it's surely not the only one here. You've taught me a lot, I wish you well and that you prosper! Even if it's with ads.... although I can only IMAGINE how you'd twist it... actually, I'd kindof love to see you do an ad. Because I know it'll be hilarious!

I support you 100%. I also subscribe to youtube premium, because life"s too short for spending valuable time watching ads.

Joar

I've said it before, he really needs to get a sponsorship from Cliff for the Quicktest and from the HOPI people! He's said so many good things about them in the past, I don't think anyone would mind if he announced one day that they are sponsoring him, or giving him some freebies to give away to his viewers like ElectroBOOM does with Keysight.

Berkeloid

No need. I'm single and live a simple technical life.

Big Clive

Yeah. Eating humble pie after advertising a rogue service would be extremely awkward.

Big Clive

That's one of the reasons we love you Clive. Now, if you were to sponsor something you actually use or endorse I (and I guess many others) wouldn't mind, I'd actually find it interesting.

Just wanted to say I super respect you for this kinda stuff Clive, and you're easily one of the best youtube people out there in terms of content and principles and smooth sexy voice. Thanks for bein' awesome.

Shame Boy

I definitely don't expect to become a YouTube millionaire, and that's just fine with me.

Big Clive

Makes you think that if the service was so good there would be no need to lock people in.

Berkeloid

I agree. I could stomach it if it was honest but most of the time it's made out like the video creator just loves the service and uses it all the time, and the company is just so great, and it comes across as completely fake and ruins my trust in the channel. But with people like ElectroBOOM who make it funny and don't go over the top, it's not so bad.

Berkeloid

Well, if you feel so strongly about it, then I suppose I can accept your decision. 🤣 That being said, I am confident that any marketing that you performed or participated would be mutually beneficial and prolly most of your posse would join it. As others have said, you're a treat!

or get a hardware firewall in place and have that proxy and/or encrypt the out bound data.

NightshadeLenar

Thanks for taking a stand Clive. Some of my favorite channels suddenly turn in to script-reading monotone robots spewing out whatever has been sent for them to read then returning to their normal voice afterwards. It's really weird. Some of the more spammy ones are Nord and also Glasswire.

Just to agree with almost all other comments. VPNs have their uses, but the scaremongering and hype by some providers is way off base.

Rob O'Donnell

I think I speak for all your fans Clive when I say that I appreciate the effort and attention you put into all your content, it’s clearly a real passion for you and that in turn gives me passion to try new things and understand the inner workings. I think if anything Poundland should be sending some patronage your way haha! Thanks again Clive!

They are annoying, and I guess their target market is people less competent than your audience. I hope you report them as spammers if they are using other mail gateways, or at least gave them GDPR compliant GTFO notices. Most people have no need for a VPN to anywhere else. If it's HTTPS; trust the science. If it's a sensitive system you're accessing while travelling and not native encrypted; update your systems, get a private VPN set up, fire your IT staff.

Andy Brown

All important traffic is encrypted nowadays, I think everything is encrypted on iOS since 2016 and Android since 2018ish... Apps that don't encrypt traffic are rejected from the app and play store, Chrome, Firefox, etc... Will give you a huge warning if traffic is not encrypted, so VPN's all they do is spoof your geographic location and hide the websites you visit from your ISP.

Enjoy the coffee! We <3 you!

Shaun Runham

VPN's are useful... for one reason. They hide your activity from your ISP. (Or school, work, etc.) And by activity, they mask whether you spend your time on reddit or pornhub. If you connect via https, there is really nothing else they can get from you other than the URL. The thing that really bothers me about most VPN ads, is they make it seem like everyone is watching you. Kinda dirty tactics.

Matthew Jones

Thank you for not subjecting patrons and normal peps to the ads

I always skip past the sponsor bit anyway... apart from ElectroBOOM because he makes the sponsor bit funny. Actually, you’re the only one I subscribe to on Patreon. Thanks Clive.

Clive, you educate and you entertain! My favourite online watch.

mikenco

Thanks Clive, we appreciate the minimal distractions.

Myrk

Thanks Clive. I despise all these bullshit product placements and promos in other YouTube channels. I know they can be necessary sometimes, but most of the time it's just cringey...

I'm not a fan of NordVPN's pricing structure either. Locking oneself in to a service for several years to get a good monthly price seems like a bad idea to me.

You do the minimum ads and that's what I likes about you big clive

blakethepatton

No problem, if you need more money, just let me know.

Good show! There are a few products that seem reputable on YT ads, but many of the sponsors seem very sketchy, NordVPN high on the list. A VPN can conceal IP addresses, but for general web browsing that's of rather low importance. It does absolutely nothing for protecting data that it pumps through to a website that's already using https, and potentially can open a hole for sniffing traffic.

Paul Ste. Marie

https://youtu.be/WVDQEoe6ZWY

evilution

Thank you Clive. I always cringe at the awkward segues into VPN ads or the like, although intentionally awkward ones can be funny (assuming the advertiser don’t take them selves too seriously can cancel it). Tom Scott has a recent video on this and talked about the questionable need for VPNs aside from watching video from from other countries Netflix and networks. I love your videos and the way you explain things and it’s a pleasure contributing to channel as you very much deserve it. Thank you Clive and I very much look forward to your Christmas/New Years walk with Ralfy.

Vaughn B.

An issue i have with NordVPN and others. They claim bullshit like making your online banking more secure, no bad hackers can interfere with it. The truth is, you don't need that. Banks use EV certificates, identifiable by the green lock next to the address. And browser have known bad cyphers blocked. A VPN will not add to the security at all, because they don't make that already pretty damn secure connection anymore tamper proof. Usually, they don't even go after the connection. They go after your computer or phone itself. No need trying to break encryption, when you can compromise a users device and just get a copy of his login data. Only protection here is, never use the device to verify a transaction, to do the transaction. Like don't use sms-tan and the banking app on your phone. And i seriously hate channels advertising all that shit. Same goes for games "Oh yeah i started playing...." then some lenghty marketing blurb they have to read. "And when you join now with my code, you will get free bla bla bla".... Now don't get me wrong, i don't mind advertisement. But make it less intrusive and stop fucking lying. Thank you clive for not going that road. We should still aim for a poundland endorsement deal. Free Poundland screwdrivers for everybody!

Andreas

I appreciate your integrity but I can also say that if you would to advertise some product that you actually use and actually like I wouldn’t mind

And, for this, we appreciate you all the more. I'd hate to state this publicly but if you did go that route my patronage would be minimized, if not eliminated. Please don't ever sell out. :)

Ryan Coleman

With principles like that, sir, you will never be a YouTube millionaire. And good for you.

Phil Collins

Good on you, Clive. I'm not going to call other channels 'sellouts' for accepting sponsorships, but when they are being told to say nice things about something they have little to no knowledge on (such as VPNs) and are advertising it like it's the best thing ever - you kind of can't help but think they're a sellout.

Terrum

You aren't going to tell us about the wonderful new luggage you have, or the air purifier you just happen to have found? Lol. I appreciate your integrity.

Reid Fishler