PayPal’s popular money-saving tool Honey (that never works on local sites like Jumia) has found itself in hot water after major YouTubers exposed its questionable business practices, leading to a mass exodus of users and a class-action lawsuit. The Chrome extension, which promised to find the best coupon codes for online shoppers, has lost 3 million users after revelations about how it allegedly scammed both consumers and content creators.
The controversy erupted when an expose by Megalag surfaced on the internet showing that Honey was secretly hijacking content creators’ affiliate links. The extension would replace the affiliate links with its own, effectively pocketing commission fees that should have gone to the creators whose platforms and audiences were being used to drive sales.
But the deception didn’t stop there. According to more exposés, Honey has also been working behind the scenes with retailers to intentionally hide better discount codes, instead showing only merchant-preferred options. This practice essentially undermined the extension’s core promise to users: finding the best possible deals.
The scandal came to light through a viral video by MegaLag that has garnered 14 million views. The fallout was swift and severe – Honey’s user base plummeted from 20 million to 17 million, according to Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine data.
Legal consequences have already begun. Devin Stone, a lawyer and YouTuber known for his LegalEagle channel, filed a class-action lawsuit against PayPal on December 29 in California’s Northern District Court. Stone, who dubbed Honey a “sleeping leech,” is seeking damages and restitution for affected creators, along with a permanent injunction to stop these practices.
The case has particularly stung because Honey had built its reputation through extensive YouTube marketing, sponsoring many of the same creators it was allegedly deceiving. The platform had positioned itself as a free service helping consumers save money, while apparently operating a sophisticated scheme to redirect affiliate commissions away from content creators.
This revelation has left many questioning the future of “free” browser extensions and the true cost of convenient online shopping tools. As users continue to uninstall the extension, the bigger question remains: Will PayPal reform Honey’s business model, or is this the beginning of the end for one of Chrome’s most popular shopping assistants?
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