They are paid to talk about, promote, and utilize a certain product in YouTube videos. A sponsored video is when a company contacts a very large Youtuber and wants them to advertise their product, obviously in video form. It's almost like product placement. The YouTuber gets paid for being in the video and sometimes they also get some free products too. There are several different ways you can become a sponsored channel on YouTube. One way is if you meet the criteria set by Google for specific brands that want to sponsor your channel. If these brands feel like you're relevant to their audience, you could be given money to receive promotional materials such as T-shirts or other items. Another way to become a sponsored channel is through co-branding. In this case, you find a partner brand that wants to work with many different channels to help them gain exposure by creating sponsored content. For example, McDonald's might partner with several different YouTubers who make videos about their favorite topics such as food, music, and culture and pay them to create videos promoting their brand. Yet another way to become a sponsored channel is through affiliate marketing. In this case, you find a product that people are interested in and make videos about it. Then, you partner with a company to sell advertisements on your video page.