VPN relationship diagram that shows who really owns ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark
VPN services are becoming popular for a variety of reasons, including privacy protection, enhanced security, and bypassing various restrictions, but little is known about the ownership relationships of major VPN service providers and the actual state of the industry.VPN service provider
Who Owns Express VPN, Nord, Surfshark? VPN Relationships Explained
https://windscribe.com/blog/the-vpn-relationship-map/
You can also interact with the interactive map embedded on the site, but if you click 'Take me to the full map' and go to the embedded website, you'll see a full-size view where you can zoom in and out with your mouse wheel and export the map.
The map shows the relationships using the following colors:
・Red line: Relationship as a VPN provider
Blue line: Shared staff, resources, networks, facilities, or partnerships
・Purple line: Relationships with media-related companies
・Orange dashed line: Paid affiliate connection
・Brown line: Legal dispute
Click on a company icon in the map to view more details about that company.
Right-click the icon to display the menu, then click 'Focus.'
You can narrow down the relationship between the selected icon to one to three levels. Click 'Direct'...
You can narrow down your search to just the companies you are directly connected to.
In addition to the map, the site also lists the owners of major VPN services.
Who owns ExpressVPN?
ExpressVPN is part of a larger network of companies that includes
ExpressVPN was founded in 2009 by
Who owns NordVPN?
NordVPN is owned by Lithuanian nationals Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas . NordVPN is part of a larger corporate structure run by Nord Security .
Who Owns Surfshark?
Surfshark was founded by
The site also lists seven observations about the VPN industry.
1. Surfshark’s Windows and Linux GUIs read and write in plaintext to your local machine
The following logs store local logs of email information, payment methods, card identification numbers, issuers, and other personally identifiable information that are accessible to all users.
This leaves behind logs that can easily capture private information. In Windows, the user's login information can be used to hijack VPNs for IKEv2 and OpenVPN connections, boot the PC via USB or other means to retrieve plaintext files stored on the disk, or easily retrieve files via a remote access Trojan.
2: How much do VPNs pay their affiliates?
Affiliate commissions for major VPN services are as follows:
ExpressVPN: $13-$36 per conversion
NordVPN: 30% off all plans sold
Private Internet Access: 33% on all plans sold
OVPN : 30-50% on all plans sold
TorGuard : 30% off all plans sold
Norton LifeLock : 32% off all plans sold
Avast : 35% on all plans sold
VuzeVPN : 50% off all plans sold
Surfshark: 40% on all plans sold
TunnelBear : 50% off all plans sold
The industry average conversion rate for affiliate sites is approximately 0.5 to 1.0%, so we can roughly estimate the revenue of multiple affiliates like Kape Technologies' Safety Detectives , which receives 3.1 million hits per month. Based on data from Similarweb showing a site bounce rate of 73.86%, the percentage of people who proceeded from their first visit to a product introduction page or similar page comes out to 810,340. Assuming that the percentage of those who actually purchased was 0.5% of the conversion rate, approximately 4,052 people are thought to have made a purchase, so the estimated revenue would be 4,052 x $28.73 = $116,413.96 (approximately 17.75 million yen).
Kape Technologies' acquisition of Webselenese is likely due to the fact that Safety Detectives and VPNMentor 's revenues are a safe and profitable option for VPN companies like ExpressVPN.
3. NordVPN class action lawsuit
NordVPN is facing a class action lawsuit brought by Wittels McInturff Palikovic , who claims that its cancellation process is so bad it's criminally vicious. Wittels McInturff Palikovic is also a victim of gender discrimination at Dell, an overtime class action lawsuit against AT&T, and a lawsuit over unpaid internships.
4. Hollywood claims VPNs cause murder
Approximately two dozen Hollywood studios are suing VPNs, alleging that 'defendants' users have used their VPN services to engage in widespread film piracy, as well as criminal activity, including harassment, illegal hacking, and even murder.'
5. Corporate VPNs illegally promote themselves through influencers on YouTube and TikTok
The blog's author, Windscribe, commented, 'We believe that many VPN affiliate campaigns are a way to avoid legal responsibility for accurately representing their products. Influencers promoting VPNs mislead many people about what VPNs can do, and we're not a fan of affiliate marketing.'
6. Affiliate sites only recommend VPN providers that are profitable for them
Affiliate-based VPN referral sites often use vague criteria and move the goalposts to direct users to profitable VPN providers, rather than suggesting non-profitable VPN providers, and the entire article is often designed to create conversions to profitable VPN providers.
The VPN industry is worth billions of dollars, and soon to be trillions.
The VPN industry was worth $25.41 billion in 2019. As of May 2022, VPNs are estimated to be a $44.6 billion industry, and are predicted to exceed $77 billion within four years .
'The demand for security and safety continues to grow, but it's saddening to see that the majority of people seeking a VPN seem to be fooled by shady marketing tactics,' Windscribe said. 'Corporate VPNs are spending millions of dollars to crush independents like Windscribe and control the market, disregarding ethics and doing whatever it takes to get results.'
Discussion
The social news site Hacker News has been discussing the relationship between Tesonet and ProtonVPN , with reports that the company received threats from Tesonet-related companies during its time running Private Internet Access.
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