Tom Scott is a good example of the influence of VPN money. He made an entire video about how and why he would not make ads for VPNs because VPN ads are deceptive, this video got millions of views ...and then later he started making ads for VPNs (NordVPN iirc). I always wonder how much they bought him for.

Pretty sure he made a video about him doing those ads when he did them to answer that question, but you kind of answer it in your description anyway. His objection to VPN ads wasn't the fact it was a VPN, but the deceptive content in the ads. Promises they don't deliver, benefits you get from basic SSL anyway etc.

When a VPN was happy to work with him on an ad that wasn't deceptive or misleading he was happy to run it. I think the original video only existed in the first place because at that time he was willing to advertise a VPN for the money offered, but they couldn't agree on ad content he felt was fair. So his price never changed, the VPN company just gave into his 'advertise honestly' demand.