Blurred lines: Are YouTubers breaking the law?

[Administrator]

John Bain received his first offer to create advertorial for his YouTube channel in 2010. "A video game publisher asked me to create a video about one of its titles," says Bain. "They agreed to pay for the coverage so long as I agreed to not say anything negative about the game." It was the first of a slew of such deals that Bain - better known to his 1.7 million YouTube channel subscribers as TotalBiscuit - has been offered, from posting a product link in a video's description through to elaborate ad campaigns. Bain was asked not to disclose the nature of the proposed sponsored content to his viewers. He refused the deal. "I don't know how I'd live with myself," he tells me. "It's taking your passion and selling it out for a small pay-cheque. It morally bankrupts you."
YouTube, the Google-owned streaming video service that allows anyone to upload their videos for public consumption, has created numerous cottage industries since its launch in 2005. Self-styled video game broadcasters are the service's most popular home-grown stars. 24-year-old Swede Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg has over 28 million subscribers to his channel, an audience that rivals that of America's slick-haired talk show hosts. In YouTube's earliest days, these presenters earned money exclusively through traditional 'pre-roll' advertising, whereby a 30-second advertisement would play out before their video. Here, as on television, the distinction between advertisement and content is made clear to the viewer. But during the past few years, the lines have blurred.
Susi Weaser works for Channel Flip, a Soho-based company that signs and manages rising YouTube talent, including some who specialise in video games. "We sell pre-roll advertisements for our clients whereby a specific advert is run against their video," she says. "But we also broker sponsorship deals and product placement in YouTubers' videos." The fee that Channel Flip's clients receive for this kind of deal is largely dependent on the size of their audience, the suitability of its demographic to the advertiser and whether or not they believe they will see a return on their investment. "The amount of money paid out varies wildly," says Weaser. "It's generally in the thousands of pounds, but it might be dictated by the number of times the YouTuber has to say the product's name, for example."
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