Honey Extension: The Truth Behind the Scam
The Honey extension, widely known for helping users find the best online deals, has been a go-to tool for many shoppers looking to save money. However, a new investigation has revealed a darker side to the popular browser add-on—one that is scamming both influencers and consumers.
How Honey Steals from Influencers
Honey operates on an affiliate marketing model, where content creators (like YouTubers and bloggers) earn commissions when users make purchases through their affiliate links. However, when users activate Honey to search for coupons at checkout, the extension silently deletes the creator’s affiliate cookie and injects its own. This means that even though the creator directed the user to the product, Honey takes the commission for itself, leaving the influencer with nothing.
This predatory practice not only affects influencers’ ability to generate income but also creates distrust between creators and their audiences. What was once a tool for helping influencers earn revenue now becomes a vehicle for PayPal Honey to poach commissions.
The Consumer Deception
For consumers, the truth behind the Honey extension is just as troubling. While the tool promises to find the best discount codes, many of the offers it presents are outdated or ineffective. Honey may lead users to believe they are getting the best deal, but in reality, the tool is more focused on maximizing its own revenue by directing consumers to specific retailers, even if those retailers aren’t offering the best prices.
Additionally, Honey collects data on consumer behavior, raising privacy concerns. Users may unknowingly allow the extension to track their shopping habits, which could be used for targeted ads or other profit-driven purposes.
What Are Affiliate Cookies and How Does Honey Exploit Them?
Affiliate marketing works through tracking cookies. When a user clicks on a link provided by a creator (such as a YouTuber or blogger), an affiliate cookie is placed in their browser. This cookie tells the retailer that the sale originated from the creator’s promotion, and as a result, the creator earns a commission on the sale.
However, when Honey is activated, it replaces the creator’s affiliate cookie with its own. The tool’s ability to “poach” the commission means that even though the creator’s promotion led the user to make a purchase, PayPal Honey takes the credit—and the money.
How Honey Really Works
At its core, PayPal Honey uses affiliate marketing tactics, meaning it earns a commission whenever users make purchases through the links it provides. However, this comes with a catch: not all coupon codes offered by Honey are valid or the best available. While Honey claims to provide users with the best discount options, it may present outdated or ineffective codes, leading users to believe they are receiving a better deal than they actually are.
Moreover, PayPal Honey is not always transparent about its revenue model. The extension could be steering users towards certain retailers from which it earns a commission, even if those retailers aren’t offering the best deals. This practice raises questions about whether the tool is working in the user’s best interest or prioritizing profit generation for itself and its partners.
The Impact on Content Creators
This tactic essentially robs content creators of the rewards they earn from their hard work. YouTubers, influencers, and bloggers who have worked tirelessly to build trust with their audiences by recommending products through affiliate links are now being left empty-handed. The situation highlights a serious ethical issue: creators have been advertising a tool they believed would benefit their audience, only to discover that it’s been siphoning off their commissions.
Not only does this undermine the trust between creators and their audiences, but it also casts doubt on the integrity of PayPal Honey’s business practices. Creators who relied on affiliate commissions to monetize their content are now being deceived into promoting a service that directly competes with their income.
Creators Are the Unseen Victims
PayPal Honey’s practice of stealing commissions from creators reveals the darker side of the extension that many users and influencers were unaware of. Creators who thought they were benefiting from affiliate marketing are instead being robbed of their earnings. This exposes a need for greater transparency in the affiliate marketing industry and raises questions about how tools like Honey can operate without regard for the creators who help drive sales.
As consumers and influencers become more aware of these practices, the reputation of Honey and similar tools could be at risk, leaving users to reconsider whether the tool is truly worth the trade-off.
Coupon Codes: Are They Always Valid?
Another issue highlighted by the investigation is the reliability of the coupon codes provided by Honey. Many users have reported that the codes presented by the extension are either expired, invalid, or don’t apply any discounts at all. This undermines the very purpose of the tool, as customers may waste time trying codes that don’t work while still believing they are getting the best deal.
In some cases, users might have found better discounts elsewhere, yet Honey promotes codes that don’t provide significant savings, effectively reducing its utility as a legitimate cost-saving tool.
The Bottom Line
PayPal Honey may seem like a convenient way to save money, but the truth is that it’s more about lining its own pockets than helping consumers or creators. By hijacking affiliate commissions and misdirecting shoppers, Honey has exposed itself as a tool that prioritizes profit over fairness. Influencers and consumers alike are left paying the price for what was promised to be a helpful savings solution.
