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    Case studies Surfshark Finland
    SurfsharkFinland · August 202614 Finnish Twitch creators · 1 Aug to 1 Sep

    Bought 100,000 views. Got close to a million.

    Surfshark VPN ran for a month on Finnish Twitch with a twist on the usual overlay: every ad moment opened a poll in the creator's own chat. The campaign over-delivered live, kept collecting views in the replays, and came back with a month of market research nobody had to pay a panel for.

    Finnish IRL stream filmed from the driver's seat, with the Surfshark '4 extra months' overlay on the left and the live VPN poll at the bottom
    A real frame from the campaign: the overlay on the left edge, the Finnish poll running live at the bottom.
    Live ad views
    119,041
    Live ad views
    119% of the 100,000 bought
    Views with replays
    949,957
    Views with replays
    Live, VODs and clips
    Clicks
    1,281
    Clicks
    1.08% click-through rate
    Clip-verified
    98.7%
    Clip-verified
    759 ad plays checked
    Poll votes
    2,833
    Poll votes
    790 polls run in chat
    Watched
    964 h
    Watched
    Stream time with the ad running
    01The brief and setup

    One overlay, one question, fourteen chats

    14 Finnish creators for a month, and every ad moment had two jobs: show the offer, and ask chat a question.

    Market
    Finland, Finnish-language creators on Twitch
    Flight
    1 August to 1 September 2026
    Roster
    14 creators across gaming, IRL, music and Just Chatting
    Creative
    Animated corner overlay carrying the "+4 months extra" offer
    Interaction
    A live poll in the creator's own chat on every ad moment, asked in Finnish
    Chat command
    !surfshark or !vpn pulls up the offer link in chat
    Per creator
    A code panel with the creator's own name, so every channel tracks on its own
    The overlay, as aired
    Cycles from "Stay safe, save big" through the 4 extra months offer to "Click the link in the chat".
    Surfshark code panel for the creator TurunPug, offering 4 months extraSurfshark code panel for the creator Henksuliini, offering 4 months extraSurfshark code panel for the creator miikaz, offering 4 months extraSurfshark code panel for the creator KETKU, offering 4 months extra

    Each creator also had a panel with their own code and the same offer. Four of the fourteen, as they looked on channel pages.

    02Delivery

    Bought 100,000. Delivered 119,041 live.

    A Twitch stream stays on the creator's channel as a VOD with the overlay still in it, and the best moments get clipped. That is where most of the total came from.

    Bought
    animation views
    100,000
    Delivered live
    billed, 1 Aug to 1 Sep
    119,041

    Where the 949,957 views came from

    VOD views
    798,323
    183 VODs
    Live ad views
    119,041
    What was billed
    Clip views
    32,593
    320 clips

    Read the replays as a range. A VOD view on Twitch is a video load, and some are autoplay rather than someone sitting down to rewatch. The 798,323 is a real count from Twitch, but not the same thing as the 119,041 live views Surfshark paid for. Clip views are the cleanest part. VOD and clip counts cover the 11 channels with replay data, snapshot 1 September 2026.

    03Verification

    Every ad play left a clip behind

    A short clip of the stream is recorded around each ad play and checked automatically. Delivery becomes something you can look at, not only a number in a dashboard.

    759
    ad plays across 202 streams
    964 h
    of stream watched with the campaign running
    98.7%
    of ad plays verified with a recorded clip of the stream
    The clip is the receipt. If the ad did not run, there is nothing to show.
    89.9%
    of those clips show the overlay displayed correctly
    Measured on the recorded clips, not taken on the ad server's word.
    31.5%
    of clips have the streamer saying the brand out loud
    A spoken mention on top of the visual one, heard on the clip itself.
    04On stream

    What it looked like in the wild

    Real frames from the campaign's verification clips. Different creators, different layouts, the same overlay in the corner, and the poll on screen when it ran.

    Just Chatting stream with the poll in the top left corner and a chat message advertising the Surfshark offer link
    The poll in the creator's own layout, and the chat command reply with the offer link below it.
    Third-person game with the creator's webcam, the Surfshark overlay and a compact poll in the top right corner
    Gameplay stream with the poll tucked into the top right.
    Creator talking to camera while driving, with the Surfshark overlay and the VPN poll on screen
    Talking to chat on the road, 13 votes in.
    Creator wearing headphones on a Just Chatting stream with the Surfshark overlay on the left and a busy chat on the right
    Just Chatting with a full chat column next to the overlay.
    Music stream with a drummer on screen, the Surfshark overlay and the offer message in chat
    A music stream, with the offer message posted in chat.
    Empty streaming studio between segments, with the Surfshark overlay and the poll showing 15 votes
    Between segments, the overlay and poll keep running.
    Guitar rhythm game stream with the Surfshark overlay on the left
    Guitar stream with the overlay over the song list.
    Outdoor map stream with the creator's webcam, the Surfshark overlay and the poll at the start of a round
    A poll seconds after it opened, first vote in.
    05What Finland answered

    We asked Finnish Twitch if they use a VPN

    The poll ran 790 times in the creators' own chats. Answering takes one click and nobody leaves the stream. 2,833 votes came in, and 22,604 chat messages from 2,141 people landed while the ad was on screen.

    “Hei, käytätkö VPN-yhteyttä nykyään?”

    “Hey, do you use a VPN these days?” · asked 790 times · 2,833 votes
    1. En
      No
      69.3%1,964
    2. Käytän toista VPN-palvelua
      I use another VPN
      16.3%461
    3. Harkitsen sitä
      I'm considering it
      9.7%275
    4. Kyllä, käytän Surfsharkia
      Yes, I use Surfshark
      4.7%133

    One question, three audiences, and how big each one is

    21% of voters are already on a VPN: 16% with a competitor, 5% with Surfshark. 10% are considering one. The other 69% do not use one at all. Each group needs a different message, and now Surfshark knows the size of each.

    Don't use a VPN
    69.3%
    Needs to learn what a VPN is for
    Use another VPN
    16.3%
    Needs a reason to switch
    Considering it
    9.7%
    Needs a reason to start
    Use Surfshark
    4.7%
    Already customers
    06What chat said

    The audience wrote the sales FAQ

    We read every viewer message that mentioned Surfshark or VPN in the creators' chats, removed the bots and translated them from Finnish.

    188
    viewer messages
    130
    different viewers
    13
    creators' chats
    13
    times viewers typed !surfshark or !vpn themselves

    Tone of the messages

    1. Positive36%67
    2. Neutral30%57
    3. Question19%35
    4. Negative15%29

    What the questions were about

    11were some version of "what is a VPN, and why would I need one?"
    7were buying questions:
    • What it costs
    • Whether the offer is for new customers only
    • How many devices it covers
    • Whether it unlocks US Netflix
    • Whether it keeps logs
    The frequency lesson

    The most repeated complaint was not about Surfshark. It was about the poll showing up too often. One viewer started changing their answer every time out of protest. Run the poll less, and more people enjoy answering it.

    In their own words

    • Positive

      "This many ads is actually making me consider buying Surfshark, even though I wasn't going to get a VPN anyway"

      Tää mainosten määrä saa mut enemmä surfsharkin ostamista castaa vaikken ollu muutenkaa hommaamas vpn:ää

    • Positive

      "So annoying that I always miss the Surfshark poll, when for once I would get to press YES!"

      Iha tyhmää et mä missaan aina ton surfsark kyselyn, ku kerranki saisin painaa JOO!

    • Positive

      "well it is actually almost half the price of NordVPN"

      No on toi itse asias melkein puolet nordvpn:ää halvempi

    • Question

      "can you watch, say, US Netflix with that Surfshark?"

      voiko tuolla surfsharkilla katsoa esim jenkkien netfilxiä?

    • Negative

      "The constant VPN poll is starting to grate on me, so my tactic now is to change my answer every time"

      Mua rupee kyrsii jatkuva vpn kysely ni minäpä otin taktiikaks vaihtaa vastausvalintaa

    Viewer messages from the creators' Twitch chats, August 2026. Finnish original under each translation. Usernames left out.

    07Who clicked, and from where

    A PC gaming audience, 98% of it in Finland

    Every click is logged. Device, operating system and browser resolve on 99% of them (1,327 click-log rows). Location resolves on 40% (533 clicks), city on 508; geography shares are of the located clicks.

    Device

    1. Desktop87.6%1,162
    2. Mobile12.2%162
    3. Tablet0.2%3
    94%

    of desktop clicks came from Windows, only 4% from macOS. On mobile, Android leads iOS 75 to 25.

    Operating system

    1. Windows81.9%1,087
    2. Android9.3%124
    3. macOS3.8%50
    4. iOS3.1%41
    5. Linux1.8%24
    6. Chrome OS0.1%1

    Browser

    1. Chrome63.1%837
    2. Firefox20.4%271
    3. Opera6.5%86
    4. Edge4.8%64
    5. Safari4.3%57
    6. Samsung Internet0.9%12

    Country

    1. Finland98.1%523
    2. United States0.8%4
    3. Netherlands0.4%2
    4. Germany0.4%2
    5. Czechia0.2%1
    6. Ukraine0.2%1
    4located clicks (0.8%) came through a VPN or proxy

    That lines up with the poll: an audience that mostly does not have a VPN yet.

    City

    1. 01Helsinki25.6%130
    2. 02Oulu18.1%92
    3. 03Espoo5.3%27
    4. 04Turku4.1%21
    5. 05Lahti3.9%20
    1. 06Tampere3.9%20
    2. 07Jyväskylä3.7%19
    3. 08Kuopio3.1%16
    4. 09Ekenäs2.6%13
    5. 10Kokkola2.4%12
    6. Other cities27.2%138

    For a VPN, which people install on the device they use most, desktop is the right screen. Age and gender are not in the click log, so we do not report them.

    08After the stream

    The biggest channel passed 300,000 VOD views

    798,323 views on 183 VODs from August. A few channels carried most of it.

    1. turunpug24 VODs
      305,687
    2. henksuliini10 VODs
      133,791
    3. miikaz30 VODs
      120,970
    4. datrope25 VODs
      75,878
    5. ketku16 VODs
      60,899
    6. tuubeli24 VODs
      43,259
    7. snihy16 VODs
      42,515
    8. 4 other channels38 VODs
      15,324

    Twitch VOD view counts, snapshot 1 September 2026, for the 11 channels with replay data. "Other channels" is the remainder of the 798,323 total. On top of the VODs, 320 clips collected 32,593 views.

    09Takeaways

    What we would take into the next flight

    1. 1

      Count the replays.

      Live views are what you buy. VODs and clips are what you get on top, for weeks after the stream. Report them as a range, next to the live number, never instead of it.

    2. 2

      Ask the audience something.

      A poll adds almost nothing to the setup and turns an overlay into research. Surfshark now knows how many Finnish viewers have no VPN, how many are undecided and how many pay a competitor.

    3. 3

      Read the chat.

      The questions viewers ask are the FAQ and the next creative brief. Here that meant explaining what a VPN is for, and answering price, devices, streaming and logs up front.

    4. 4

      Watch the frequency.

      The most repeated complaint was seeing the poll too often. Run it less and more people will enjoy answering it, which also makes the answers better.

    Sources and notes

    • Campaign report. Surfshark Finland campaign report, LIVAD delivery, poll and click logs, campaign 3854, 1 August to 1 September 2026. Live views, clicks, CTR, polls, votes, poll split, chat activity during ad moments, device, OS, browser and geography.
    • Clip and campaign analytics. LIVAD clip verification and campaign analytics, final pull 1 September 2026. Ad plays, streams, clip verification, correct display, brand said, hours watched.
    • Replays. Twitch VOD and clip view counts for the 11 channels with replay data, snapshot 1 September 2026.
    • Chat. LIVAD keyword tracking (surfshark, vpn, surf), deduplicated, bots removed, read and translated from Finnish by us. LIVAD's dashboard counts 1,130 keyword hits; 188 is the deduplicated viewer message count.

    Two click counts. The report counts 1,281 clicks, which is the figure behind the 1.08% CTR. Device, OS and browser shares are calculated on 1,327 rows in the raw click log, where the user agent resolved. The two come from different counts in the LIVAD data and differ by 46. We show both rather than force them to match. Geography is located on 533 clicks, 40% of the total.

    Two chat numbers. 22,604 messages from 2,141 people is all chat activity during ad moments. The 188 messages in section 06 are only the ones that mention Surfshark or VPN.

    Ad plays and polls. 759 ad plays were verified by clip; 790 polls were run. The two are logged separately and are not expected to match one to one.

    Replays. A Twitch VOD view is a video load, including some autoplay. The combined 949,957 is live views plus VOD and clip views, and should be read as a range.

    Not reported. Age and gender are not available in the click log. One translated chat quote was left out because it quoted a price.

    Want to know what your market thinks out loud?

    We run native overlay campaigns with Nordic Twitch creators, verify ad plays by clip, and report the chat, the replays and the clicks in one place.

    Book a callsales@beta-ads.no
    Surfshark overlay and poll on a Finnish gameplay stream