Honey Browser extension: shady dealings

Lumeinshin

Youtube Channel MegaLag did a good video breaking down malicious ways that the Honey extension works and the misleading claims that the company and partner youtube channels have been making regarding it, as well as how the business itself harms those same channels.

Here is the video;

And here is a tl;dw of the key points. I'd recommend the video for proof and more in depth explanation:

1. Honey replaces any affiliate links with their own

2. Honey inserts their affiliate links when the extension is used, even if it doesn't "find" any deals

3. Honey doesn't actually find you the best deals

4. Honey allows businesses to restrict what deals honey provides and advertises it to be a feature to prevent consumers from getting discounts that are too high

There is a part two of the video coming soon which looks like it'll be tackling the times it does have fantastic discounts, that it shouldn't have (ie internal employee discounts etc)

I've never personally used it but I know people who have, so this is interesting and more of a PSA than anything.
Have you used Honey or any similar extensions?

1996FordMondeo

I had this extension for a bit during uni. Never used it though.
Always was skeptical how they made money.
Remember finding somewhere that allegedly they would get a kickback from sellers via affiliates but selling data seemed more plausible reality.
Will need to watch the video seems interesting. Lets hope he covers more shady stuff like this.
This channel might interest you as well. He mightve gotten some backlash for the way he sometimes behaves but he covers similar scams as well, his claim to fame is established titles
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFk00pDre4y0J1c7nYA2LnA

oh i think its worth mentioning
I remember seeing channel called laowhy86 advertise an extension that iirc basically tells you where product is made and if im not mistaken maybe even gives you an alternative option)
While it seemed a good extension(I try to avoid stuff made in china) I was also skeptical on how they made money since it didint seem to be a community effort extension

LOWnHA

horrific. this is borderline malware.

1996FordMondeo

Mutahar is also covering honey

Somnolence

Really do have to wonder just how many of these sponsorships are scams, it seems like every other one.
Some people here probably know the controversies with BetterHelp or can even remember Candid from approaching a decade ago, but you don't even have to look that far. About nine months ago I purchased a book that was spotlighted for a sponsored segment, and the damn thing still hasn't shipped- despite supposedly being ready since August.

1996FordMondeo

Somnolence
These kinds of situations are one of the main reason why I tend to avoid products that are paying to be sponsored so much.
If they can for over so much for advertising, does this mean that they take money away from the product/service itself

pyontri

this is why i cant trust anything
i couldn't of ever noticed this lol, im so happy that there is people that can pick up that something like this is wrong

Lumeinshin

Looks like YouTube Channels LegalEagle and Gamers Nexus are both looking to sue Honey (and by extension, PayPal).
This will be interesting since they are fighting quite a large company and we often see cases like these disappear.
I hope that they are looking to get MegaLag to assist with evidence

This case will be of interest to me since of course SheepishPatio is a website that has the ability to make use of referrals and affiliate links (if i so chose). Anything messing with that space is interesting and can affect how this site develops

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