Honey's sweet deceit
By Chelsea Lu and Andrew Xie Feb. 12, 2025
For many, the thrill of scoring a coveted deal is unmatched—but rarely ever does it come easy. From endlessly comparing prices to navigating suspicious websites, the journey to the checkout can be surprisingly draining. Enter Honey: a free browser extension that automatically searches for coupon codes and ensures that users snag the best bargains possible with the least amount of effort. By combining two universally loved practices—online shopping and saving money—Honey seems almost too simple and good to be true, perhaps because it is.
Honey was launched in 2012 by George Ruan and Ryan Hudson to help users save money by automatically applying coupon codes at checkout. In 2020, PayPal acquired Honey for $4 billion and integrated it into its portfolio of online payment and shopping tools, including Venmo and eBay. Prominent creators, such as Mr. Beast and Mark Rober, promoted the browser, which in turn accumulated approximately 5,000 videos across 1,000 channels, totaling 7.8 billion views for Honey, as per Fortune Magazine. Their promotions—combined with the promise of easy savings—contributed to Honey amassing over 18 million users, as per its Chrome web store page.
But Honey’s promise faces skepticism: in Dec. 2024, YouTuber MegaLag—best known for conducting investigations and social experiments—released a video titled "Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam." He claimed that Honey intercepts affiliate links shared by influencers and redirects commissions to itself, stealing content creators’ shared earnings for products they promote. The video also accuses Honey of prioritizing its partner stores' coupons over better discounts elsewhere, potentially withholding lower prices from the consumer.
“Once when I was using Honey, it stated that it could not find any working coupon codes. However, when I searched manually online, I found several that worked. Although it was strange, I did not second guess it at the time, but upon the exposure of their methods, it adds up now,” Freshman Gowri Paliwal said.
Additionally, in 2021, a Twitter post by user Barnacules advised others to apply Honey’s discount codes in a different browser to avoid it taking the affiliate credit. In a 2022 forum reply, a Linus Media Group employee also explained that Linus Tech Tips—a prominent Canadian technology YouTube channel—dropped Honey as a sponsor after discovering its shady affiliate link practices.
Based on the accusations, Honey runs a background tab that swaps affiliate cookies—a browser extension that reveals sources that send customers to a product link from an influencer, YouTuber or website—as their own, without notifying the buyer. In Dec. 2024, prominent technology influencer Marques Brownlee removed all Honey-sponsored videos from his channel and called on his 20 million subscribers to uninstall the extension.
“While the scam is definitely unwanted, it serves as a wake-up call for influencers to fact-check the brands they promote. Many endorsers advertise companies solely for their own benefit, but the Honey scandal proves that it can hurt both the creator and viewers,” Junior Sophia White said.
Even with Honey Gold—the premium version of Honey acting as a cashback and rewards program—the fraud continues. Honey Gold promises to share a balance of their stolen commissions with the customers in terms of their point system: with an adequate amount of points, one can redeem small gift cards to participating retailers. This program enables the company to earn a large commission, while sharing only a small fraction of the sum with the consumer. Thus, Honey’s profit margins are prioritized over consumer benefit once again.
Soon after the video was released and gained massive attention worldwide for its discoveries, a class-action lawsuit was filed this year on Jan. 3 in San Jose U.S. District Court. Five online content companies represented influencers, alleging that PayPal uses “deceitful and clandestine” methods to steal money from social media influencers and content creators.
What was once hailed as an effortless tool to save money and support creators has been accused of undermining the very trust it relied upon to thrive. As lawsuits mount and creators speak out, the situation underscores the need for greater accountability from tech companies that profit off consumer trust. For users, it is a stark reminder to critically evaluate “too-good-to-be-true” services, and the unseen costs that may come with them.
About the Contributors
Chelsea Lu is a Staff Writer and this is her first year in Journalism. She loves hanging out with friends, building Legos, and rotting in bed. She also loves writing stories.
Mingyue Xiao is an Artist for the Charger Account. She especially enjoys creating frogs.
Andrew Xie is a Freshman at Leland High School and is a Staff Writer. He loves reading and writing and this is his first year in journalism. He likes watching soccer and playing video games.
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