Children and <scp>YouTubers</scp>: Navigating the Maze of Sponsored Content and Advertising for Merch

ABSTRACT Recent scholarly attention has focused on YouTubers' advertising practices and their influence on young followers' understanding of commercial content. Although previous studies primarily explore children's advertising literacy, they often treat YouTubers' influencer marketing as a unified phenomenon. This article distinguishes between two types of advertising: sponsored content and merchandise (merch) advertising. Merch advertising is viewed as more personally connected to the YouTuber than third‐party sponsorships. The study examines how children, ages 10–13, interpret these forms of advertising within parasocial relationships with YouTubers. Based on group interviews with 19 Swedish children, the analysis explores appropriation, moral economy and parasocial relationships. The findings reveal that children find sponsored content more intrusive and deceptive than merch advertising, which is discussed more as a product. These results highlight the importance of a nuanced understanding of YouTubers' advertising practices in research involving children and YouTubers.