• hace 22 horas
Was Honey a legitimate money saving tool? Or just an affiliate marketing scam promoted by some of YouTube's biggest influencers?

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00:00By now, you've probably heard about Honey, you know, the browser extension that saves you money.
00:06Do you have Honey installed?
00:07What's Honey?
00:08Oh, no, no, no.
00:09Honey?
00:09Honey is a free browser extension.
00:11Free browser extension.
00:13Free browser extension.
00:14Free browser extension.
00:15That automatically applies coupon codes when you check out online.
00:18Free money, basically.
00:19It's literally free money.
00:21It doesn't make sense to not be using this.
00:22So what's the catch?
00:23There is no catch.
00:24Join Honey.
00:33Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but your favorite influencers sold you a lie.
00:37Honey is a scam.
00:38And the majority of claims promoted by those influencers aren't even remotely true.
00:43But it gets worse.
00:44Honey hasn't just been scamming you, the consumer.
00:46They've also been stealing money from influencers, including the very ones they paid to promote their product.
00:51And I'm not just talking about a few bucks here.
00:54I believe this scam has likely cost content creators millions of dollars.
00:58Sound crazy?
00:59Well, I didn't believe it at first either, until I experienced it myself firsthand.
01:04In fact, I'm confident this might just be the biggest influencer scam of all time.
01:09Which is insane, considering Honey is owned and run by PayPal, who purchased this company for $4 billion.
01:17This three-part series is the result of a multi-year investigation,
01:20where I believe I've uncovered signs of advertising fraud, affiliate fraud, the illegal collection of personal data, deception, lies, coercion, extortion, the list goes on.
01:30I've reviewed hundreds of documents, adverts, sponsorships.
01:33I've reviewed emails between Honey and merchants, interviewed victims.
01:37Believe me, this runs deep.
01:39Now, I want to be clear.
01:40The views, allegations, and conclusions expressed in this series are my opinions,
01:44based on evidence I have gathered, which will be shared throughout.
01:47That said, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Honey Trap.
02:02Now, I know what you're thinking.
02:03It's a free browser extension.
02:04How bad could it be?
02:05Well, trust me, it's far more sinister than you might think.
02:08You know what they say.
02:09If a product's free, it's likely you're the product.
02:12And as you'll find out later in this investigation, that remains true for PayPal Honey.
02:16Now, like most people, I too fell for the lies.
02:19I mean, what's not to love about a free browser extension that saves you money?
02:23It's a compelling product, and with the endorsement from what feels like every single popular influencer on YouTube,
02:29it's no wonder millions of people downloaded it.
02:32Ironically, the very influencers promoting Honey seemingly had no idea the company was quietly picking money out of their very own pockets.
02:41Well, at least one of them realized, but we'll get to that later.
02:45So let me show you how Honey's been stealing money from influencers.
02:48So let's say you're watching a video on YouTube.
02:50If you're into tech like me, maybe you're watching a Linus Tech Tips video.
02:54Linus tells you about this free browser extension that saves you money online.
02:57You install it in two clicks, and boom, you have Honey.
03:00Perfect timing, because it just so happens you're looking to buy a new CPU for your computer.
03:05You come across another Linus Tech Tips video, and after watching, you're convinced you should buy the one recommended in his video.
03:12So you scroll down and find Linus' affiliate link to that product.
03:15Now, for those of you who don't know, when you click an affiliate link and buy something,
03:19the influencer who promoted the product earns a commission for referring you to that store.
03:24So you add the product to your cart, get to the checkout page, and hello, Honey says they found you 10 coupon codes.
03:30Sweet.
03:31You click Apply Discounts, and Honey gets to work.
03:34But unfortunately, none of the coupon codes worked.
03:38Doesn't matter though, because as Honey has promised us for years, that means we know we've got the best deal.
03:43So you complete your purchase, you're happy your new CPU's on the way, Linus is happy he's getting his commission, everyone's happy.
03:50Right?
03:51Well, let's quickly rewind and see what was happening behind the scenes.
03:55You see, after clicking Linus' affiliate link, you'll notice in the URL, there's a tracking tag labeled Short Circuit.
04:02That's a reference to one of Linus' YouTube channels, and this tracking tag is how Newegg knows who to pay a commission to.
04:09We can also see that this tracking tag has been saved on my browser in the form of a cookie that will expire in 30 days.
04:16That way, if we only decide to complete the purchase a few days later, Linus will still be credited the sale.
04:21It's kind of like when you're at a department store buying a TV, and the salesman who helped you gives you a referral card or a receipt with their name on it,
04:28so when you eventually get to the checkout counter, the clerk knows which salesman to award the sale to.
04:34You can think of affiliate cookies as a digital version of that.
04:37So what happened when we got to the checkout page?
04:39Well, once Honey popped up, watch what happened to Linus' affiliate cookie after we clicked Apply Discounts.
04:48You see that? Honey came in, removed Linus' affiliate cookie, and replaced it with their own,
04:54claiming credit for the sale, and pocketing the commission money for themselves.
04:59Yeah.
05:00Now, if we quickly go back again, we can see what's causing this to happen.
05:04After clicking Apply Discounts, what you'll notice is that in the top left corner of your browser, Honey discreetly opens a small new tab,
05:13which acts like a simulated referral click, as if they were the ones to refer you to the website,
05:18even though you're already on the website and at the checkout page.
05:21Once that page has finished loading and has stuffed PayPal's affiliate cookie, the tab automatically closes,
05:27leaving you blissfully unaware that anything ever happened.
05:30It's very sneaky.
05:32Now, when I first discovered this was happening, I thought, there's no way.
05:36Why would all these high-profile influencers be promoting a company that is actively poaching their affiliate commissions?
05:42It didn't make any sense.
05:43So to make sure I wasn't going crazy, I went on a Honey testing spree,
05:47clicking one affiliate link after another, and it kept happening.
05:52But even after all those tests, I scoured the internet to see if anyone was talking about this and found nothing.
05:58Okay, there was this one debate about it on the Y Combinator forum, but nothing concrete.
06:03Besides that, virtually nobody was talking about this, adding fuel to my doubt.
06:07So I figured, screw it, I'll reach out to Honey and ask them directly.
06:11And sure enough, they came back to me with the following.
06:14If Honey is activated and is the last program used while shopping on a site,
06:18it is likely Honey will receive credit for the purchase.
06:21I was right, and just like that, my investigation into Honey began.
06:25Now, some might consider what PayPal is doing here dirty or highly unethical,
06:29but personally, I can't see how it's anything short of fraud.
06:33I mean, just imagine something like this happening in a real-world scenario.
06:37Let's say you're at a department store looking to buy a new TV.
06:41A salesman spends time running you through your options.
06:44You decide to buy, he gives you his referral card, you get to the checkout,
06:48and right as you're about to pay, a sleazy salesman pops up going,
06:52Hey, shall I check if I have any coupon codes for you?
06:55Naturally, you say sure. He snatches your referral card without you ever noticing,
06:59looks for coupons, says sorry, no luck this time,
07:02but instead of handing back the original referral card, he hands back his own.
07:07Since PayPal didn't refer the customer to the store,
07:09they didn't promote any of the products, the salesman did that,
07:12PayPal provided absolutely zero value to the customer,
07:15yet they were rewarded for the sale.
07:17But because this is all happening online,
07:19buried behind clicks and cookies and tracking data,
07:22there's little to no transparency that this is ever happening.
07:26Okay, but what if Honey had found a working coupon code?
07:29Would that make it okay for them to claim the commission?
07:32Honestly, no, I don't think so.
07:34The fact remains that Honey didn't refer the customer to the store,
07:37nor did they promote the product.
07:39Look, don't get me wrong, I'm a consumer myself.
07:41Saving money matters, especially when money's tight.
07:44But this scam doesn't just affect wealthy influencers.
07:46There are hundreds of thousands of small creators, bloggers, artists,
07:50who rely on affiliate commissions to support their craft.
07:53Sure, you could argue that Honey may have convinced the consumer
07:56to complete the purchase by providing a discount.
07:58But let's be real, if you're already at the checkout with your items in your car,
08:02you already have a high intent to purchase.
08:04And again, this would never fly in a real-life sales environment.
08:08No department store is going to allow a salesman to hang out at the checkout counter
08:12casually handing out coupon codes
08:14while simultaneously stealing commissions from the other sales reps.
08:18So, why are we allowing a corporate giant like PayPal to do it on the internet?
08:23Now, believe it or not, this first example I just showed you with Linus
08:26is just one of three scenarios in which Honey poaches affiliate commissions.
08:30And the next scenarios are even worse.
08:33But before I show you how bad Scenario 2 is,
08:35it's important you understand the fundamental system Honey is exploiting.
08:39You see, in affiliate marketing, there's this thing called last-click attribution,
08:43which basically means last-click wins.
08:46For example, you might click on a shoe blogger's affiliate link for a pair of Nikes,
08:49but you don't buy right away.
08:51Later, you click on a YouTuber's link for the same shoes and complete the purchase.
08:56In this scenario, the YouTuber gets the commission and the blogger gets nothing.
09:00There are other models like first-click, where the blogger would win the commission,
09:04or dynamic-click, where the commission is shared.
09:07But the industry went with last-click because, while it's not always the fairest,
09:11it's the easiest to implement.
09:13Therefore, it became the industry standard.
09:16Now, when it's blogger versus YouTuber for a sale,
09:18honestly, I'd say last-click is usually fair.
09:21But when it's anyone versus Honey, there's no real competition.
09:25Honey pops up right at the end of your purchasing journey,
09:28virtually guaranteeing they'll win that last-click.
09:32They, of course, know this and do anything they can to get that last-click,
09:36even when there's no coupon codes to offer.
09:38Which brings us to scenario two.
09:41Honey Gold, which is now called PayPal Rewards.
09:44Here's how it works.
09:45When you get to the checkout and Honey Gold is available,
09:48Honey pops up and is essentially saying,
09:50Hey you, consumer, click this button here so PayPal can claim the commission for the sale,
09:55and we'll share a portion of that commission money with you in the form of points.
09:59It's basically a lame cashback scheme.
10:01And it's genius because if there are no coupons to offer,
10:04but the store is participating in Honey Gold,
10:06it gives Honey another reason to get that last-click.
10:10How can YouTubers, bloggers, or any other type of affiliate
10:14fairly compete against this type of mechanism?
10:16Of course the consumer is going to click,
10:18and of course they're going to win the sale.
10:21Now this got me thinking,
10:22how much of their commission are they actually sharing with users?
10:25Well, to find out, I decided to put Honey Gold to the test.
10:28So I looked for any website where Honey Gold was offered and found it on NordVPN.
10:32And no, this is not a sneaky sponsorship.
10:35So I signed up for NordVPN's affiliate program,
10:37which offers 40% commission on successful referrals.
10:40After getting approved into the program,
10:42I received a custom affiliate link for my YouTube channel.
10:45Using this link, I made two separate purchases.
10:48For the first, I activated Honey Gold.
10:50And sure enough, you can see my affiliate cookie was replaced with Honey's.
10:54And for the second, I didn't activate Honey Gold.
10:57As expected, I was awarded a $35 commission
11:00for the sale where Honey Gold wasn't activated,
11:03and received nothing when Honey Gold was activated.
11:07For the first time, I experienced Honey poaching my own affiliate commission.
11:12So how much of my stolen $35 commission
11:15did PayPal sharers cash back with my Honey account,
11:18aka the consumer?
11:20Brace yourselves, 89 points,
11:22which is equivalent to $0.89 USD.
11:26That's right, Honey poached a $35 commission for doing nothing,
11:31and rewarded me a grand total of $0.89.
11:35Thanks PayPal, you really shouldn't have.
11:39No, seriously, you really shouldn't have.
11:41Now, onto scenario three.
11:43For you ladies out there, let's say you're looking for a new outfit.
11:46Your favorite influencer tries on something that slays,
11:48you click on their affiliate link, and get to the checkout.
11:51But in this scenario, Honey knows it has nothing to offer.
11:54No coupon codes, no Honey Gold,
11:56yet it still pops up to announce absolutely nothing.
12:01Annoying as f***.
12:03Naturally, you click the got it button to get rid of the annoying dancing coin,
12:06and whoa, what's that?
12:08PayPal takes the sale.
12:10Why?
12:11Because f*** you, Mary, that's your commission.
12:15But wait, there's more.
12:17My personal favorite is when Honey has nothing to offer,
12:20so pops up offering you to check out with PayPal,
12:23even though the option is already available at the checkout page.
12:27And of course, if you click the checkout button,
12:29PayPal poaches the sale.
12:32Classy.
12:34As I was saying, Honey uses any excuse possible
12:37to get that last click from the user.
12:40It's absolutely disgusting.
12:42I can't even begin to fathom how much money has been lost
12:45at the hands of this browser extension.
12:47Imagine being the influencers who promoted Honey,
12:50telling your audience, who, by the way,
12:52are the most likely to use your affiliate links,
12:54to download an app that poaches your affiliate sales.
12:57It's crazy.
12:58Now, to be clear, not every influencer who promoted Honey
13:01engages in affiliate marketing,
13:02so those who don't are obviously unaffected.
13:05But did any of the influencers who are engaging in affiliate marketing
13:08ever catch on to what Honey's been doing?
13:10Well, it turns out, yes, at least one of them did.
13:13Linus Tech Tips, who have been promoting Honey since 2017.
13:18So here's how I found this out.
13:20You see, one day I was browsing Linus' forum
13:22to see if anyone had raised a red flag about Honey.
13:25And sure enough, back in 2020, someone sounded the alarm,
13:29but it was ultimately ignored.
13:31However, in 2022, a different user noticed that LMG
13:35were no longer promoting Honey
13:37and asked the team if they had been dropped as a sponsor,
13:40to which one of Linus' employees responded with,
13:42we ended the partnership with Honey
13:44due to the way their service interacted with affiliate links.
13:47Essentially, if someone clicked on an affiliate link
13:49and then they use Honey and search for a deal,
13:52Honey will override that tracking link
13:54even if they don't find you a deal.
13:56That didn't jive with us,
13:57so we ended the partnership.
13:59Okay, so they had no idea this was happening
14:01and it took them several years to catch on.
14:03That's quite telling,
14:04because we're talking about a tech-savvy YouTube channel
14:07that's run by a very large team.
14:09The fact that it took them several years to figure this out,
14:11in my opinion, really underscores the deceptive nature
14:15with which Honey operates.
14:16If Linus and his team didn't know,
14:18I can't imagine many other influencers
14:20would have known either.
14:22Now, I have to say,
14:23as a longtime viewer and supporter of Linus' channel,
14:25I'm incredibly disappointed
14:27they weren't more public with this discovery.
14:29I get this specific issue doesn't directly affect their viewers,
14:32but surely they must have realized
14:34the wider impact this could be having
14:36on the creator community,
14:37a community they're a part of.
14:38I think that matters.
14:39And it's not as though they only promoted Honey once or twice.
14:43They did approximately 160 sponsored segments,
14:46all of which remain live on YouTube.
14:49Those videos have accumulated around 194 million views.
14:53According to my data,
14:54that makes Linus' company, LMG,
14:56the third largest promoter of Honey on YouTube.
14:59So yeah, in my opinion,
15:01they should have made more noise about this.
15:03But what's truly baffling to me
15:05is that after LMG ended their partnership with Honey,
15:07they then went ahead and partnered with a company called Karma Now,
15:11a coupon browser extension
15:13that literally engages in similar behavior.
15:17Now, I did reach out to LMG about the situation,
15:20and I'll be honest,
15:21their response was not to my satisfaction.
15:23They didn't address the majority of my questions.
15:25However, they did at least provide some important context
15:28about their dealings with Honey.
15:30LMG stated that,
15:31as soon as these issues with Honey were brought to us,
15:33we tried to work with them to remedy them.
15:35After a few calls,
15:36we were informed that they weren't willing to change,
15:38so we stopped working with them across all channels.
15:41So let me get this straight.
15:43One of Honey's biggest promoters goes to them and says,
15:46hey, can you please stop overriding our affiliate links?
15:49And Honey effectively goes,
15:50no, not happening.
15:52Assuming I've got that correct,
15:54and if true,
15:55that just goes to show what little regard Honey has
15:57not only for content creators,
15:58but also their partners.
16:00Now, as for LMG's less than ideal response,
16:03I did press Linus' team to address the rest of my questions,
16:06but never heard back from them.
16:08But it's time to shift gears,
16:10because unfortunately,
16:11this scam runs much deeper than stolen affiliate commissions.
16:14It's time we talk about how Honey used these influences
16:17to sell you a complete lie.
16:19How they sold you a product
16:20that was doing the opposite of what they promised.
16:22You see, as I was testing Honey across different stores,
16:25I was encountering a reoccurring issue.
16:27When I reached the checkout page,
16:29Honey would claim it couldn't find me any coupon codes.
16:32Yet when I searched manually,
16:33I found working codes with ease.
16:35And even when Honey did find me a code,
16:37I was often able to find another code of better value.
16:41Kind of strange,
16:42given their claim that,
16:44well, thanks to Honey,
16:45manually searching for coupon codes
16:47is now a thing of the past.
16:48Another oddity was that Honey would often only find me
16:51Honey-branded coupon codes,
16:53such as Honey 5 or Honey 10.
16:55Why would a store only have Honey-branded coupon codes?
16:58Kind of weird, right?
16:59But the biggest red flag was that
17:01when I tried submitting the better coupon codes I had found,
17:03Honey wasn't adding them to their database.
17:06So, why not?
17:08Well, eventually, I figured out what was going on.
17:12It turns out that one of the key benefits
17:14for stores partnering with Honey
17:15is that they are given full control
17:17over which coupon codes go live on the platform,
17:20if any at all.
17:21I discovered this while listening to a podcast
17:23produced by Honey,
17:24which appears to be aimed at attracting new businesses
17:27to joining their platform.
17:28In this podcast,
17:29an employee from the Australian clothing store,
17:31Princess Polly,
17:32discusses the benefits of partnering with Honey.
17:35What would you say to any brand
17:36that has considered working with Honey,
17:38but hasn't yet?
17:39I would say missing out on converting customers.
17:42Like I said before,
17:43GenZet is super discount savvy.
17:45You can't ignore the fact that
17:46they will hunt for discount codes
17:48and they might find a better deal.
17:50With Honey, you can also control the discount code percentage,
17:53which means they will potentially find
17:55a higher discount code on the internet.
17:57It literally lets you control the customer journey,
18:00convert and control the discount code percentage as well.
18:04This is insane.
18:05She's basically saying Honey is great for businesses
18:08because it encourages users
18:10not to bother hunting for coupon codes
18:12and it allows businesses to control
18:14which coupon codes are shared with consumers.
18:17Now, I was able to further verify this on Honey's website,
18:20specifically the FAQ page for partners,
18:23which clearly states,
18:24as a partner,
18:25you have control over the content hosted
18:27on the Honey platform.
18:28So yes, even if Honey knows of a coupon code
18:31that offers say 20% off,
18:33but a partnering store tells them,
18:34hey, only share a 5% off coupon,
18:37then that's the only discount Honey will apply to your cart
18:40at the checkout page.
18:41I mean, holy shit.
18:43Honey wasn't finding you the best deals possible.
18:45They were intentionally withholding them from you
18:48for their own financial gain.
18:50This completely invalidates
18:52Honey's core value proposition to consumers.
18:55For years, they sold you the lie
18:57that they would find you every working coupon code
18:59on the internet
19:00and apply the best one to your cart.
19:02But nope, complete and utter lie.
19:05They have literally been feeding you coupon codes
19:08that were approved by the partnered stores
19:10who were paying them.
19:11And can I just say,
19:12the double messaging here is hilarious.
19:15Because on one hand,
19:16Honey has appealed to consumers
19:18by promising to find the best deals possible.
19:20But on the other hand,
19:21they appeal to businesses
19:23claiming that Honey helps prevent consumers
19:26from finding the best deals.
19:28It's absurd.
19:29Now, when you think about it,
19:31this all makes complete sense.
19:33I mean, why would any online business pay Honey
19:37for sharing their highest value coupon codes
19:40with its 20 million users?
19:42That's not an appealing partnership whatsoever.
19:45So, to make a partnership more attractive,
19:48Honey told businesses,
19:49hey, if you partner with us
19:51and pay us an affiliate commission,
19:52we'll let you control which discount codes
19:55are shared on our platform.
19:56And we'll tell our consumers
19:58we scoured the internet
20:00and found them the best deal possible.
20:02Everybody wins.
20:04Just not the consumers or the influencers.
20:07With this discovery,
20:08I decided to do a thorough audit
20:10of Honey's advertising campaigns.
20:12And yikes,
20:13the ads, the sponsorships,
20:14everywhere you look,
20:15it's lie after lie.
20:17I wouldn't be surprised
20:18if this ends up going down
20:20as one of the most aggressive,
20:21shameless marketing scams of the century.
20:24Just look at this insane list of videos
20:26that were sponsored by Honey.
20:28According to my data,
20:29they sponsored almost 5,000 videos
20:31across roughly 1,000 different YouTube channels,
20:34racking up an unbelievable 7.8 billion views.
20:38It's crazy.
20:39So now that we have a clearer picture
20:41of how Honey operates,
20:42let's reflect on some of their claims.
20:44Honey will find every working code on the internet
20:47and apply the best one to your cart.
20:50If Honey can't find a discount code for you,
20:52then you can rest assured
20:53there's not a single discount or promo code
20:55on the internet.
20:56It's a free browser extension
20:57that automatically finds you the best promo code
20:59for anything you purchase online.
21:00You literally don't spend money.
21:01Honey searches the known internet
21:03for every promo code ever used.
21:05This means you always get the best deals
21:06without even trying.
21:07What Honey does is take money
21:09and they put it in your pocket.
21:10If there is any way to save money on your purchase,
21:13they'll find it.
21:14Getting you the lowest prices possible at checkout.
21:16You are always gonna get the best deal
21:18no matter where you're shopping,
21:20Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, doesn't matter.
21:22Honey's got your butt covered.
21:23If Honey can't find a code,
21:25you have the best deal.
21:26It really puts into perspective
21:28just how shady this company is, doesn't it?
21:31Now, believe it or not,
21:32the Better Business Bureau
21:33launched an inquiry into Honey's advertising claims.
21:36But after Honey immediately discontinued the claims
21:38for quote, business reasons,
21:40the BBB decided to drop the case.
21:43Honestly, at this point in my investigation,
21:46I thought I'd seen the worst of it.
21:48I thought I understood the full picture
21:50of Honey's shady business model.
21:51But here's the thing,
21:52what I haven't told you
21:54is that there were instances
21:55where Honey would actually work really well,
21:57finding me incredible discounts
21:59that seemed almost too good to be true.
22:01Now, it wasn't very often,
22:03but enough to confuse me.
22:05And there were even times
22:06when they weren't poaching affiliate commissions
22:08by claiming the credit for sales.
22:10These inconsistencies bugged me.
22:12It didn't add up with everything else I had discovered.
22:15It was clear I was missing something.
22:17Well, once I finally figured out what that was,
22:20I uncovered an even darker side to PayPal's scam,
22:23one that targeted an entirely new victim.
22:27We started having problems
22:29where customers would get in touch
22:31via support saying,
22:33oh, hey, I just tried to use this discount,
22:35this 60% off coupon,
22:37and it doesn't work.
22:38And I'd be like,
22:39dude, that is not your discount.
22:41Like, how did you get that?
22:42And they'd be like,
22:43oh, it just showed up through the Honey extension.
22:46Yeah, it cost us thousands,
22:48and I haven't even looked into how far back it went.
22:51One would be like,
22:52you need to make the numbers work,
22:54and it's just, like,
22:55a really awful business model.
22:56Like, we've been so mad at them for so long.

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