Google has updated its affiliate link policy following allegations that coupon-clipping website Honey was abusing the program.
Honey is a free Chrome extension with over 17 million users that finds coupons to help shoppers save extra money at checkout. But in late December, a YouTuber known as MegaLag accused Honey of being a “scam” by abusing online affiliate links.
(Credit: Honey)
Typically, when someone clicks an influencer’s referral link to a product and then buys the product, the influencer earns a tiny fraction of the sale in commission. In a YouTube video that has since amassed more than 17 million views, MegaLag clicks on one of his own referral links and shows how Google adds his unique code to a shopper’s URL so it traces their purchase back to him.
However, if that person then clicks on the Honey extension to search for coupons at checkout and Honey cannot find any, Honey swaps in its own referral code, effectively “claiming credit for the sale and pocketing commission money for themselves,” MegaLag says.
MegaLag reached out to Honey, which is owned by PayPal, to ask about his findings. Its response seemed to confirm his suspicions: “If Honey is activated and is the last program used while shopping on a site, it is likely Honey will receive credit for the purchase,” it told MegaLag.
Though neither Honey nor Google addressed the specifics in MegaLag’s video, Google this week updated its affiliate policy for Chrome extensions with new language that seems related.
Honey searches for coupon codes at checkout (Credit: Honey)
It now prohibits any “extension that updates a shopping-related cookie without the user’s knowledge while the user is browsing shopping sites” or one that “continuously injects affiliate links in the background without related user action.”
The policy also specifies that “affiliate links, codes, or cookies” can only be included when they help the buyer or provide a benefit such as a discount. In the case of Honey, the extension added its own affiliate cookie when it could not find any discount.
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Influencers feel they’ve been duped because Honey partners with many of them to promote its service. That includes tech reviewer MKBHD, who has also now spoken out about the issue, highlighting the “major, shady things Honey has been doing the entire time.”
“I believe the scam has cost content creators millions of dollars,” says MegaLag. “This might just be the biggest influencer scam of all time.”
This issue would also affect any product referral websites, including media sites. PCMag contacted Google and PayPal for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
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About Emily Forlini
Senior Reporter
