Not So Sweet: PayPal’s Honey browser extension stung in massive affiliate scheme
In the run up to New Year’s Day, news broke about an issue with Honey, a popular online shopping extension users install in Chrome and other browsers. Before crews started shoveling confetti out of Times Square, popular YouTuber Marcus Brownlee released a new video on his channel to break down the issue for his almost 20 million followers.
Why should you care? For three reasons.
First, 17 million Chrome users and 5 million Edge users have installed the Honey browser extension based on the promise it would save them money for free by finding them every coupon code on the internet. If you’re one of them, delete it today. I’ll explain why.
Next, this is another in a long line of online schemes we all need to be aware of and smarter about sussing out. Simply, if something seems too good to be true – install this FREE browser extension and ALWAYS get the best deals – it probably is.
Last, and certainly not least, you will never find shady shenanigans on this site. This is a safe corner of the internet. I’ll only share common sense advice and personal tech know how based on my experience that I’d be willing to send to my parents. Because I do. You can even see a picture of them here.
What Happened
Long story short, Honey got caught in a massive, double-barreled confidence scheme.
First, according to the original investigation by YouTuber MegaLag, when a person clicked to buy an item from a referring site then used Honey before completing the purchase, Honey would remove the affiliate referral link from the URL and stuff in its own link. The content creator which referred the person to the shopping site, who should receive credit for the sale, would never get paid. Instead, Honey, and its owner PayPal, would pocket the commission.
Second, and just as nefarious, Honey allowed retailers to control which coupon codes shoppers saw even though it told shoppers they’d get the best deals. Any business which signed on as a Honey partner chose the codes shoppers saw and those it suppressed as long as Honey got a cut of the action.
If that sounds like something Tony Soprano and his crew might have cooked up, you’re tracking. Not only did Honey not allow referring sites to get paid, effectively drinking their milkshake, it also allowed retailers to suppress their best coupons, all for a price.
Why You Should Care
Although you may not use Honey to find the best deals online, you and most of the people you know buy things online. According to Capital One Shopping, 265 million Americans shop online. At 2.54 people per household in a country with 127.4 million households, that works out to 81.9 percent of all U.S. households shopping on the internet.
The more transactions we make online, the more we’re going to need to be smart and savvy about who we buy from and how we do it. And who we trust to tell us about the digital economy.
An Observation
I respect Marcus Brownlee. Every one of his videos I’ve watched has been chock full of details and solid insight I couldn’t find fault with. Until now.
One thing he said in his video on the Honey scam rang hollow: ”…but if you want to give them credit for anything it’s that they were very YouTube forward. They were one of the most YouTube forward marketing companies ever…”
Credit? In what alternate reality should Honey get credit for anything other than stealing from creators and conspiring with retailers?
Honey was “YouTube forward” because it knew that was a key way it could get its coupon code extension in front of as many eyeballs as possible. It was a means to an end and is in no way worthy of praise or accolades.
While I’ll keep watching Marcus’s videos, he might consider editing that bit about crediting Honey for being a YouTube forward marketer out of his otherwise solid explainer. Since he can edit Honey logos out of the three videos on which he worked with the now discredited browser extension, he should also remove any praise for how they perpetrated the scam.
What Have We Learned
Three takeaways today:
- If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
- If you use Honey, or any of the similar shopping browser extensions which also allege to save you money, delete it from your browser. They’re likely also playing the same shell game.
- And, if you haven’t watched it yet, MegaLag’s video is a solid, thoroughly researched piece of reporting well worth 23 minutes of your time. It documents all his claims, and is totally engaging.
If you have Honey, or a similar shopping browser extension installed, here’s some links to help you remove it from:
