The PayPal Honey browser extension is, in theory, a useful way to find better deals on products while shopping online. But in a video posted this weekendYouTuber MegaLag claims that the extension is a “scam” and that Honey has been “stealing money from influencers, including the very ones they paid to promote their product.”
Honey works by displaying an offer to find coupon codes while you checkout in an online store. But as MegaLag points out, it often won't find a code or offer a Honey-branded one, even if a simple Internet search would cover something better. He Honey Website Presentation is that “you will find all the working promo codes on the Internet.” But according to MegaLag's video, ignoring better deals is a feature of Honey's partnerships with its retail customers.
MegaLag also says that Honey will hijack influencers' affiliate income. According to MegaLag, if you click on an influencer's affiliate link, Honey will exchange its own tracking link when you interact with the offer popup at checkout. That's regardless of whether Honey found you a coupon or not, and it results in Honey getting credit for the sale, rather than the YouTuber or the website whose link took you there.
Paypal vice president of corporate communications Josh Criscoe said in an email to The edge that “Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution.”
MegaLag is not the first to make such claims. TO <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/Barnacules/status/1434682891875749889″>twitter post from 2021 recommends using Honey discount codes in a different browser to avoid taking affiliate credit. A Linus Media Group employee also explained in a forum response from 2022 that Linus tech Tips removed Honey as a sponsor for their affiliate linking practices.
Honey's convenience has resulted in the extension being widely recommended, including in nearly 5,000 Honey-sponsored videos on around 1,000 YouTube channels, according to MegaLag. We have even recommended it here at The edge; now we don't do it.
Here is Criscoe's full statement:
Honey is free to use and offers millions of shoppers additional savings on their purchases wherever possible. Honey helps merchants reduce cart abandonment and comparison shopping, while increasing sales conversion.
