[72600] A wave of advertisements for Iranian VPN services raises suspicions of commercial manipulation

Price wars in the Iranian VPN market

Over the past 24 hours, a variety of Iranian Telegram channels, including خبرفوری ࡆ اخبارفوری مذاکره ࡆ جنگ فوری, خبرفوری جنگ🚨اخبارفوری امریکا فوری, and کانال هواداران پرسپولیس ایران, have distributed identical messages presenting allegations regarding the activity of "VPN brokers" operating on Telegram and the Rubika platform.

The messages, published under the title "market exposure," claim that merchants are selling network access services (Configs) at exorbitant prices of 100,000-150,000 Tomans per gigabyte, whereas the advertisers claim the actual cost is only 10,000 Tomans. According to خبرفوری ࡆ اخبارفوری مذاکره ࡆ جنگ فوری, the sources offering these low prices seek to direct users to a private VIP channel, claiming it is a solution "without disconnects."

This phenomenon, which also includes the collaboration of content channels on sports topics such as کانال فوتبال برتر ࡆ لیگ برتر 360 and music channels such as کانال موزیکفا آهنگ جدید ریمیکس رپ, indicates a coordinated marketing campaign. These entities, which usually present positions that are not overtly political but tend to publish viral content, use a "personal recommendation" tactic to attract users to those blocked or private channels.

It should be noted that the information appears to be an aggressive sponsored marketing campaign exploiting the high demand for censorship circumvention services in Iran. The reporting sources are not official news organizations, but channels based on relaying viral content and selling advertising space, which casts doubt on the reliability of the claims regarding the "real market price."