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online advertising

concept · in 57 videos (2009–2026)

Revenue from ads shown online, the model behind YouTube pay; Hank calls advertising a little bit evil and says an ad on YouTube pays the creator about ten times less than the same ad on TV. Vlogbrothers has never run pre-roll ads, and for over ten years half of the channel's ad revenue has gone to grants for small educational creators and half to charity.

Videos by year: 2009: 3 · 2010: 2 · 2011: 1 · 2012: 3 · 2013: 7 · 2014: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2026: 8

Also known as: ads, ad revenue, CPM, you are the product, brand safety

Threads

Also named in the threads: Thoughts From Places: the vlogbrothers' series of visual essays from places (2010) · John asks Nerdfighters to take the survey on pre-roll ads on vlogbrothers and on education content (2014) · P4A 2015 edition · Hank: upload a 12-hour Torc Waterfall white-noise video to the Vlogbrothers channel (2025) · Focus Friend: Hank's focus app (2025)

Questions

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

YouTube (36) · Sexplanations (3) · Facebook (10) · Foundation to Decrease World Suck (6) · Crash Course (11) · Google (7) · SciShow (7) · The Brain Scoop (2) · attention economy (4) · recommender system (4)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2009

  • 2009-04-12 · The Death of Youtube?? Redesign Coming — John says the site will emphasize TV shows, feature films and music videos not because people want to watch them but because advertisers want to advertise next to them. — 00:00:58
    • John explains that huge audiences watch user-made clips like water-skiing squirrels for free, but advertisers such as Lucky Charms won't associate their brand with them, preferring shows like American Dad and Bones. (playful) — 00:01:32
    • John finds it hard to be mad at YouTube for wanting to stop losing money, but is a little mad at advertisers for thinking user-generated content can't sell Lucky Charms. — 00:01:55
  • 2009-07-14 · Sell Outs! — John reports many Nerdfighters commented that almost all ads beside his Sunday video were for Scientology or mail-order brides. (playful) — 00:00:00
    • John says YouTube can't survive without advertising, and as vlogging becomes more their job neither can they, since he assumes no one wants to pay for Vlogbrothers videos. (hedged) — 00:02:37
    • John says the brothers do make money from advertising and from selling t-shirts. — 00:02:37
  • 2009-07-17 · Selling Out, Chewbacca and Taking Leave — Hank says there are two ways the brothers make money, advertisements and selling stuff, and he likes both because they let them spend more time making better videos. — 00:00:41
    • Hank says the brothers have no control over, and don't even know, which advertisements viewers see beside their videos. — 00:01:03
    • Hank says the brothers far prefer selling stuff to advertisements, which he feels are a little dirty. (hedged) — 00:01:25
    • Hank asks viewers to pause and leave a comment saying which advertisements they see, so the brothers know what is going on. (playful) — 00:01:25
  • …and 1 statement more in 2009 — all statements of 2009

2010

  • 2010-04-05 · Google in your Brain — Hank says Google has talent, money and strong incentives: understanding speech would let it run contextual ads on videos, and contextual ads are how Google makes all its money. — 00:01:27
  • 2010-06-07 · Viacom PWNED on Piracy — John says everybody agrees YouTube should pay Viacom that ad money; the dispute is the amount, YouTube valuing ads at their worth and Viacom as if money grew on trees. (playful) — 00:01:29

2011

  • 2011-03-25 (said on 2011-03-24, implied) · Hank is an Adorable, Drunk Princess — Hank tells John he is ashamed to make money from advertising, which he believes is a little bit evil, often there to lie to us and make us do things we otherwise wouldn't. — 00:01:59
    • Hank adds that not all advertising is bad: sometimes we should do things we don't want to, and sometimes ads just shift spending from one thing to another. — 00:02:08
    • Hank apologizes to Nerdfighteria but won't turn off ads, since otherwise he couldn't make the videos, and believes their entertainment outweighs the advertisers' damage to viewers' brains. — 00:02:21
    • Hank mocks a Geico ad offering him 'up to 15% or more' off car insurance as the most non-specific statement possible. (playful) — 00:02:32
    • Hank calls Toyota's new commercials very evil: a child shames his dad over an old car, implying a father should be ashamed of being poor or fiscally responsible. (playful) — 00:02:46

2012

  • 2012-01-06 · Kill your TV — Hank contrasts cable with Netflix: for $8 he gets some of the best television ever and never watches an ad because he pays, whereas cable charges and still shows ads. — 00:02:11
    • Hank says a 15-second pre-roll on a four-minute YouTube video is seven times less advertising than on television. (doubtful: 7 times less) — 00:02:39
    • Hank thinks online video is generally more engaging, more likely to be what you want, more convenient, a better interface, better for discovery and more rewarding. (hedged) — 00:02:47
  • 2012-05-22 · You ARE The Product — John believes the internet maxim: if you are not paying for a service, you are the product being sold. (hedged) — 00:00:44
    • John explains that users' uploads draw other people in, who upload more and draw more, and that uploads tell Facebook what you are tempted to buy so it can encourage you. — 00:01:11
    • John says people insist ads don't affect them and they get the better bargain, but that is what advertisers want them to think; corporations know well how ads change behavior. — 00:01:29
    • John concludes that, almost by definition, advertisers buy you for less than you're worth, since many people work full time to make ads worth more than they cost. — 00:02:00
    • John says everyone using Facebook, Twitter, Google or Angry Birds has agreed to be commodified: not necessarily a bad decision, but one to make thoughtfully and consciously. — 00:02:15
    • Unsure, John asks Nerdfighters whether Chrysler, super PACs and scammy online dating sites should fund Nerdfighteria and whether to be okay with being the product, to discuss in comments. (hedged) — 00:02:33
  • 2012-05-25 · The Subway Where I Used To Go (Somebody That I Used To Know / Gotye Parody) — Hank says he doesn't like advertisements: he has seen too many Geico commercials that say nothing to believe ads aren't wheedling around in his brain, making him do things unknowingly. — 00:02:21
    • Hank argues the internet is built on the idea that content should be free, which leaves advertising as the only model: a free YouTube that keeps its staff means looking at ads. — 00:02:33
    • Hank invites a conversation: if people want YouTube neither ad-supported nor free, or know a way to run an online company without auctioning users' psyches and habits, let's talk. — 00:02:45
  • …and 2 statements more in 2012 — all statements of 2012

2013

  • 2013-03-15 · Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes — Hank objects that a project like the Brain Scoop, with 50,000 dedicated community members, still cannot pay for itself, because advertising is not the right model; he doesn't even like advertising. (hedged) — 00:02:40
  • 2013-03-20 · Ads Work...but for Whom? — John says advertisers care who the viewer is (age, income) but not whether you watch a kitten riding a Roomba or MinutePhysics; they want you leaning back and enjoying yourself when their ad plays. — 00:00:47
    • John says the problem with advertising is that it incentivises the most views, not the best: it values YouTube communities for their size, not their passions or achievements. — 00:01:41
    • John wants a way to thank creators such as Ze Frank, Wheezy Waiter and Hannah Hart for making him "lean forward", and does not think advertising alone can do that. (hedged) — 00:03:38
  • 2013-03-22 · How Much is a Human Life Worth? — Hank says that besides being annoyed by pre-rolls, he and John avoid them because they undervalue this community's time; valuing it at a tenth of TV viewers' time is 'dumb'. — 00:01:37
  • 2013-05-24 · What's Up with Start Ups — Hank finds big tech's bidding war for his time weird and worrying, not because people shouldn't spend time online, but because savvy companies see value in being 'the lens' on his world. — 00:01:03
  • 2013-05-28 · NERD FACTOR! (...And Why I Fear for Tumblr) — John: Responding to Hank's Tumblr and startups video, John thinks the underlying problem is that almost everything online depends on advertising, and advertisers are terrible at valuing the creator-viewer relationship. (hedged) — 00:00:16
    • John says advertisers value the number of views over their quality: Thoughts From Places videos are the channel's least viewed, yet Nerdfighters say they are among their favourites. — 00:00:32
    • John asks Hank to fix this problem during his paternity leave. (playful) — 00:01:09 · also in: Introducing Subbable
  • 2013-07-26 · Introducing Subbable — Hank says the problem, as someone on Twitter put it, is that advertisers value views, not viewers: they only care that you are watching, not how much you care. — 00:00:37
    • Hank says he cannot solve this alone; the advertising system is too ingrained for a technological solution, but 'we' might find a cultural one. (hedged) — 00:00:47
    • Hank says educational content cannot get the 'bajillion' views needed to pay for itself through advertising. (playful) — 00:01:58
  • …and 11 statements more in 2013 — all statements of 2013

2014

  • 2014-07-08 · The Future of Nerdfighteria — John: Five: vlogbrothers has never run pre-roll ads because the brothers find pre-rolls annoying; it has only display ads. — 00:01:59
    • John says pre-roll ads are about 99% of YouTube's revenue, and that with them vlogbrothers could earn five or six times what it does now (he can't give actual numbers). (hedged) — 00:02:08
  • 2014-07-15 · Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne Illnesses — announcement: John reports that tens of thousands answered his question from last week (week of 7 July 2014); they voted overwhelmingly to turn on vlogbrothers pre-roll ads and split the income between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund for educational video projects. — 00:00:13
    • John says the brothers will do what the vote decided and promises Nerdfighters updates on how the money is spent. — 00:00:25
  • 2014-09-19 · The Oculus Rift is Freakin Me Out — announcement: Hank says vlogbrothers has run pre-roll ads for over a month, building a pile of cash the brothers are distributing to awesome creators. — 00:03:22
  • 2014-10-14 · A Minor Crisis — John says the foundation now has about $45,000, partly from Nerdfighter projects like Nerdcrafteria (he says 'Minecrafteria') and more Vlogbrothers income - its best shape ever going into P4A. — 00:01:44
  • 2014-10-17 · MY FACE ON A BUS — Hank says the campaign is not about SciShow but about making YouTube seem legitimate to viewers and advertisers, welcoming more people and more money into the medium than ever before. — 00:02:47

2015

  • 2015-05-26 · Sixteen Parts — John: Bank of Nerdfighteria update: Vlogbrothers ad revenue is split in half between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund sponsoring online educational content such as Physics Girl and The Financial Diet. — 00:02:05
    • So far this year (2015) the Foundation to Decrease World Suck has raised about $40,000, mostly from people watching ads on Vlogbrothers; John thanks viewers for 'ingesting' the advertising. — 00:02:18
  • 2015-10-27 · Understanding YouTube Red: Paid Subscriptions and the Future of Online Video — John says YouTube has always been ad-supported like network TV and radio: creators get paid, unlike on most social media, and it is free for viewers. — 00:00:15
    • John says ad-supported media seeks the broadest audience for advertisers, so broadly watched shows like Law & Order succeed while loved niche shows like Firefly or Arrested Development fail. — 00:00:28
    • John says viewers are affected by advertising even if they think not, quoting Emily Nussbaum's essay; corporations know more about his consumptive habits than he does, as studies show. — 00:00:49
    • Answering the most-asked question, John says YouTube Red is good for creators: some of the fee goes to them and per viewer it earns them more than advertising. (hedged) — 00:01:33
    • John says he doesn't know how to feel: it's nice to see YouTube move away from relying only on ads, and Red will be a good option without harming ad-supported viewers. (hedged) — 00:03:02
    • John thinks subscriptions make viewers more powerful and brands slightly less so, which he calls good news. (hedged) — 00:03:16
  • 2015-10-30 · Feeling Thankful in Portland — Hank understands why people install ad blockers but has never done so, because ads are literally how he pays his employees. — 00:03:13
  • 2015-12-08 · The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Semiannual Report — John says Crash Course and SciShow are primarily supported not by advertising but by voluntary Patreon subscriptions from those who can afford it, so others watch free. — 00:00:41
    • John says the Foundation already has $80,000 before P4A starts, mostly from Nerdcrafteria and Vlogbrothers ad revenue, half of which sponsors online educational projects and half goes to the Foundation. — 00:02:42

2016

  • 2016-02-05 · Honest YouTube Talk Time — Hank: Most people and companies with attention turn it back on themselves or sell it to advertisers, so creators of great but unseen content find it ever harder to get a leg up. — 00:01:22
    • Through the Vlogbrothers ad revenue grants, this month (February 2016) the brothers sent money to Science With Tom, Eternally Curious, SimonOxfPhys and Unacademy, India's largest free education initiative. — 00:01:39
  • 2016-09-06 · How We're Spending Your Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Quarterly Report — John says half of the channel's ad revenue goes to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and half sponsors online education projects. — 00:00:59
  • 2016-09-13 · YouTube's New Thing (and a New Thing of Our Own) — John says advertisers, especially back then, saw engaged viewers as bad news: they watch fewer ads, and media shaped directly by the masses was terrifying. (hedged) — 00:01:56
  • 2016-09-23 · How do YouTubers Make Money? — Hank says YouTube advertising is available to everybody and reliable, but pays a really low rate. — 00:02:00

2017

  • 2017-04-21 · The Adpocalypse: What it Means — The description says YouTube eased independent creators' path to revenue, but automatically sold ads have always been priced so only very large channels earn significantly. — video description
    • Hank says each ad played on a YouTube video pays the creator about ten times less than the same ad on TV. (hedged) — 00:00:53
    • Hank says ads are YouTube's whole business, worth billions of dollars, but precarious. — 00:01:24
    • Hank says ads are just worth less online: people dislike, skip and block them; and while his eyeballs are worth less online, his time is worth more, since it is active time. — 00:01:31
  • 2017-05-16 · The Introducer, My Childhood Dream Job — John says documentaries are really hard to fund on advertising revenue alone, which is why so few are on free streaming services, at least legally. — 00:03:03
  • 2017-11-28 · Let's Talk about Money — announcement: John says that since 2014 all Vlogbrothers ad revenue has been split evenly between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund sponsoring online educational content. — 00:00:04
    • John says he and Hank don't do this because they are noble but because they can afford to: they have other jobs that pay well. — 00:00:33
    • John says that despite the so-called adpocalypse on YouTube and wider challenges for ad-funded parts of the internet, Vlogbrothers has had a really good year. — 00:00:56
  • 2017-12-26 · LEAVE IT IN 2017 — John: Social media feeds don't make you happier or better informed because they aren't trying to: algorithms are designed to maximize time on site and ad impressions, and do it very well. — 00:01:13

2018

  • 2018-01-09 · Your Attention — John says all these companies want as much of our attention as they can get because that is how they make money, which is what they exist to do. — 00:02:40
  • 2018-04-13 · Who is in Control? — Hank is deeply worried about computers getting good not just at serving content but at creating it; advertisers already work on this, and if it gets good at selling ideas, not just detergent, a new era of human history begins. — video description
    • Fed enough data, machines infer shocking detail from tiny input and will use your worldview and emotional state to help paying others manipulate you; not a conspiracy, but their business model. — 00:02:27
    • Facebook isn't the product being sold, since it is free: you are not the customer but the product, and on the social internet your attention is their dollars. — 00:02:43
  • 2018-07-03 · How Does This End? — John thinks YouTube faces big problems: it relies too much on flawed algorithms, and its monetization system often values advertisers over audience. (hedged) — 00:01:29
  • 2018-11-06 · Taking a Year Off — John's second problem: the companies running the social internet are incentivized not to give him accurate or helpful information but information that holds his attention on their platform while he ingests advertising. — 00:01:27

2019

  • 2019-03-08 · Does "The Press" Hate YouTube? — Hank says such stories make advertisers cut spending, YouTube then overreacts by strengthening demonetization algorithms, and even slightly controversial videos may earn nothing. — 00:00:42
    • Hank says most ad buyers are likewise Wall Street Journal readers rather than MatPat viewers, though that might be changing. — 00:01:40
    • Hank says the YouTube community has done great things, but culture hasn't figured out what to make of it, which might be why advertisers hesitate and why he wants journalists covering it. (hedged) — 00:03:08

2020

  • 2020-07-17 · So Much to See — Hank: In legacy media a few humans decide what gets made; there is less of that now, but advertisers still pay more for some audiences than others. — 00:01:59

2021

  • 2021-02-09 · Lesser Known YouTube Channels I Love — John: A chunk of Vlogbrothers ad revenue sponsors educational video projects, and John often discovers new favourite channels that way. — 00:00:56
  • 2021-08-17 · Who Owns Nerdfighteria? — John says the brothers' share also seems high, because the money belongs to Nerdfighteria, not to them; that is why half goes to grants for educational creators and half to charity. — 00:02:26
  • 2021-10-07 · We're Thinking About Facebook Wrong — Hank: The platform's incentive is to keep people on and sell more ads, so a feedback loop promotes righteously superior content, which more people make and consume, and groups then feel superior to each other. — 00:09:40

2022

  • 2022-02-08 · How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) — In a comment John says Vlogbrothers makes much more per user from YouTube Premium than from ads, which he believes holds for every creator. — video description
    • In a comment John says they don't run unskippable ads, which hurts their CPM a lot but they think makes for a better user experience. — creator comment
    • John says Vlogbrothers earned just over $145,000 in 2021, mostly from YouTube ad revenue, some from YouTube Premium subscribers and Super Chats. — 00:00:29
  • 2022-09-02 · How A YouTube Company Actually Makes Money — Hank: YouTubers get 55% of the ad money on their content, and YouTube shares 55% of YouTube Premium money after record labels' cut, which comes to significantly more than an ad-supported view. — 00:00:00

2023

  • 2023-10-06 · I Quit — Hank says that for over ten years half of the Vlogbrothers channel's ad revenue has gone to grants for small educational internet creators, since getting started is harder than it used to be. — 00:07:20
    • Hank names past grant recipients: Alexis Nikole, Answer in Progress, The Financial Diet, Wendover Productions, Real Engineering, and Kurzgesagt in the first year. — 00:07:20
    • Hank invites people making mostly long- or short-form educational video, or who know someone who is, to apply via the description link; grants are usually $1,000 to $3,000. — 00:07:58

2024

  • 2024-05-21 · Getting Personal about Getting Personal — John describes the basic press exchange: he uses a content machine that turns his life and stories into content to get people to see the movie, while the reporter turns life experiences and stories into content that generates subscriptions and ad revenue. — 00:00:13
  • 2024-11-01 · Working Through a Crisis with My Brother — ask: Hank asks for applications for the Vlogbrothers sponsorship: half of their money helps newer educational creators on any internet platform. — 00:00:29

2025

  • 2025-08-19 · The Problem with My Brother's Hit New App — John praises that the app collects and sells no personal data, needs no login and, best of all, has no ads: a clean, free, effective app is vanishingly rare in 2025. — 00:01:30
  • 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — Hank: A normal 12-hour video would earn a lot from ad placements, but Hank excluded mid-rolls, which would defeat the purpose; the video only starts with one ad. — 00:00:58
    • Although the summary credits watch-page ads, the breakdown shows about $8,800 came from YouTube Premium and only $1,300 from ads, the far smaller piece. — 00:01:27

2026

  • 2026-01-02 · I Got a New Disease and I Kinda Liked It. — Hank thinks one reason Focus Friend won app of the year is that it has no ads, no data tracking and is free. — 00:04:50
  • 2026-05-29 · Chemo Cow Body Odor YouTube Helen Hunt Commute — Hank recalls YouTube going from no ads to sidebar ads to pre-roll ads; the brothers left pre-roll off for over a year, until it became normal and the money was just sitting there. — 00:03:31
    • Hank says the brothers justified taking the ad money by putting half into a pool granted to small educational creators, first YouTubers and now on multiple platforms: over 10 years, dozens of grants. — 00:05:20
  • 2026-09-18 · John was Wrong about YouTube Views — Hank warns not to apply the trick to other YouTube channels: many factors, from where the audience lives to video length, affect ad rates. — 00:00:29
  • 2026-10-01 · Are We Still YouTubers? — Hank: For about ten years Hank told people at parties he made educational videos for high school and college students and ended up explaining what CPM stands for. (playful) — 00:03:08
  • 2026-10-09 · The Productivity Lie — Hank: Among the Vlogbrothers things he is proudest of, Hank names the yearly bets on educational creators funded by a piece of Vlogbrothers ad revenue, which he calls the most rational thing. — 00:05:58
  • 2026-10-23 · The Best Email I Ever Got — Hank: Because Focus Friend launched to a lot of people, Hank says, it can run without advertising, tracking or manipulative subscription tactics, pro-social choices hard for other app makers. — 00:03:57
  • 2026-10-30 · The Last Normal Year — Hank says 2016 was the first year online advertising outpaced TV ads in the US. — 00:01:59
  • …and 1 statement more in 2026 — all statements of 2026