Vanta Logo
SPONSOR
Automate SOC 2 & ISO 27001 compliance with Vanta. Get $1,000 off.
Up to date
Published
2 min read

Trevor I. Lasn

Staff Software Engineer, Engineering Manager

Honey Quietly Hijacked Creator Revenue Through Affiliate Link Switching

Honey's controversial affiliate link practices and what it teaches us about Silicon Valley's ethics

The browser extension Honey, now owned by PayPal, built its reputation on helping users save money through automated coupon testing. But beneath this consumer-friendly facade lay a controversial practice that directly impacted content creators’ livelihoods.

When users installed the Honey browser extension, it would automatically replace creators’ affiliate links with Honey’s own affiliate codes. This meant that when a viewer clicked through a creator’s product recommendation and made a purchase, the commission went to Honey instead of the creator who actually influenced the sale.

This practice wasn’t clearly disclosed to creators or users. Many content creators only discovered the issue when they noticed unexpected drops in their affiliate earnings. The technical implementation was clever but ethically questionable - Honey’s extension would scan pages for affiliate links and seamlessly substitute their own tracking codes.

The genius of Honey’s business model was its ability to monetize other people’s work. While presenting itself as a coupon-finding tool, a significant portion of its revenue came from intercepting affiliate commissions. This created a situation where Honey profited from content creators’ product recommendations without their knowledge or consent.

PayPal’s $4 billion acquisition of Honey in 2019 demonstrates just how profitable this model was. The deal raised eyebrows in the creator community, but by then, the practice was deeply embedded in Honey’s operations.

This situation highlights a critical lesson: when a service is free, you need to understand how it makes money. Honey’s business model wasn’t just about finding coupons - it was about intercepting and redirecting revenue streams from creators to themselves.

The lack of transparency is particularly troubling. Many users installed Honey believing they were simply getting a tool to save money, unaware they were participating in redirecting income from content creators they followed and trusted.

The fact that PayPal, a major financial services company, saw value in this model rather than ethical concerns is telling. It reflects a broader pattern in tech where questionable practices are overlooked if they’re profitable enough.


Found this article helpful? You might enjoy my free newsletter. I share dev tips and insights to help you grow your coding skills and advance your tech career.

Interested in supporting this blog in exchange for a shoutout? Get in touch.


Liked this post?

Check out these related articles that might be useful for you. They cover similar topics and provide additional insights.

Tech
5 min read

Cloudflare Study: 39% of Companies Losing Control of Their IT and Security Environment

New research reveals a shocking loss of control in corporate IT environments

Oct 3, 2024
Read article
Tech
3 min read

Open-source is where dreams go to die

Work for free and in return watch your passion get crushed by entitled users who are never satisfied

Feb 26, 2025
Read article
Tech
4 min read

Sentry's LLM Integration Makes Error Debugging Actually Smart

How Sentry.io is using Large Language Models to transform error debugging from mindless stack trace reading to intelligent problem-solving

Nov 24, 2024
Read article
Tech
3 min read

You Don't Own Your Social Media Accounts

Social platforms promise exposure but quietly hold your audience hostage

Nov 28, 2024
Read article
Tech
5 min read

Cloudflare's AI Content Control: Savior or Threat to the Open Web?

How Cloudflare's new AI management tools could revolutionize content creation, potentially reshaping the internet landscape for both website owners and AI companies.

Sep 24, 2024
Read article
Tech
3 min read

The Credit Vacuum

Being a developer sometimes feels like being the goalkeeper in a soccer match. You make a hundred great saves, and no one bats an eye. But let one ball slip through, and suddenly you're the village idiot.

Oct 7, 2024
Read article
Tech
3 min read

Why Anthropic (Claude AI) Uses 'Member of Technical Staff' for All Engineers (Including Co-founders)

Inside Anthropic's unique approach to preventing talent poaching and maintaining organizational equality

Oct 23, 2024
Read article
Tech
5 min read

Can OSSPledge Fix Open Source Sustainability?

The Open Source Pledge aims to address open source sustainability challenges by encouraging companies to pay $2,000 per developer per year

Nov 17, 2024
Read article
Tech
4 min read

When Regex Goes Wrong

Issues and catastrophic failures caused by regex

Aug 29, 2024
Read article

This article was originally published on https://www.trevorlasn.com/blog/honey. It was written by a human and polished using grammar tools for clarity.