I’ve noticed PCB Way used to sponsor the various electronics makers on YouTube.<p>But lately I’ve noticed PCB Way now just places YouTube advertisements over the makers videos and they’re not directly sponsoring the creators.<p>So really why would anyone sponsor a YouTube creator directly when the sponsor can instead just place a google/YouTube ad directly over the video?
Reformulating your question: Why sponsor a football team when you can just buy ads on TV?<p>Advertising and Marketing is (mostly) a way of making your brand more visible to possible customers. Sponsoring a trendy youtuber you get more visibility than other companies that just bought some ads.<p>You also have to take into account the friendliness of your advertising. Some ads might become annoying just because you saw them a few times in a row... sponsoring allow brands to buy you a "friend" that tells you how great they are.
Giving enthusiasts products lends enthusiasm to it, at the risk of a bad review. Advertising beside enthusiasts only makes products visible (to those who don't block ads).<p>Maybe they think they've run out of new enthusiasts with sizable audiences, so follow up by supplementing with ads to remind viewers of what they saw before.