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LegalEagle is suing Honey [video]

25 points by bryant 2y ago

bryant 2y ago
Super high level TLDW for those not aware of what's going on: Honey (allegedly, but there's video documentation of this happening by MegaLag) overrode affiliate tags and claimed affiliate commissions for themselves even in cases where honey added no value to a sale or to a merchant whatsoever. They also claimed to find consumers the best discounts even though the platform also had paid plans for merchants allowed paying merchants to suppress certain discount codes. Related: * MegaLag breaking the story of Honey swapping affiliate attribution as well as withholding functional coupon codes from customers. This video goes into technical depth, showing the actual process via browser dev tools where attribution is swapped - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk * MKBHD commenting on it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAx_RtMKPm8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAx_RtMKPm8 * Linus commenting on it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gHC1AQNJY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gHC1AQNJY * Past discussion on HN that was cited by MegaLag - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352
BMc2020 2y ago
This story is tailor-made for Brian Dunning of Skeptoid to follow up on. He did jail time for something similar (apps he wrote for customers directed the add revenue to him instead of the customer) https://skepchick.org/2014/08/brian-dunning-sentenced-to-15-months-in-prison-for-fraud/ https://skepchick.org/2014/08/brian-dunning-sentenced-to-15-... I'm a big fan of his podcast and I'm sure he understands what happened better than most. skeptoid dot com
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
paxys 2y ago
I would be on the YouTubers' side except they are the ones who have been shilling Honey non-stop for years to begin with. You don't get to cry "I've been scammed" after happily accepting money to perpetuate the scam to your users.
Bluestein 2y ago
Warranted. Congrats.-
voxadam 2y ago
LegalEagle's video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY
hypercube33 2y ago
I wonder if there is a case for the users who purchased items thinking they were supporting creators but instead were not. Doesn't look like this specific class action is that.
HeyTomesei 2y ago
Ryan Hudson, the founder of Honey, launched a new company that's already under scrutiny for similar practices: Pie.org (despite being for-profit). Founded in March 2024, it already hit 1M downloads and has 20+ employees/10+ Engineers.
- financetechbro 2y ago
  Do we know if Honey has been sketchy from the start or if it started after they were acquired by PayPal in 2020?
  - HeyTomesei 2y ago
    Yeah, it had a sketchy reputation before the acquisition - here's a 2019 HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352
MiguelX413 2y ago
Is there a plugin I can use to remove affiliate links altogether for privacy purposes?

25 points by bryant 2y ago

Super high level TLDW for those not aware of what's going on: Honey (allegedly, but there's video documentation of this happening by MegaLag) overrode affiliate tags and claimed affiliate commissions for themselves even in cases where honey added no value to a sale or to a merchant whatsoever. They also claimed to find consumers the best discounts even though the platform also had paid plans for merchants allowed paying merchants to suppress certain discount codes. Related: * MegaLag breaking the story of Honey swapping affiliate attribution as well as withholding functional coupon codes from customers. This video goes into technical depth, showing the actual process via browser dev tools where attribution is swapped - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk * MKBHD commenting on it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAx_RtMKPm8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAx_RtMKPm8 * Linus commenting on it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gHC1AQNJY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gHC1AQNJY * Past discussion on HN that was cited by MegaLag - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352

BMc2020 2y ago

This story is tailor-made for Brian Dunning of Skeptoid to follow up on. He did jail time for something similar (apps he wrote for customers directed the add revenue to him instead of the customer) https://skepchick.org/2014/08/brian-dunning-sentenced-to-15-months-in-prison-for-fraud/ https://skepchick.org/2014/08/brian-dunning-sentenced-to-15-... I'm a big fan of his podcast and I'm sure he understands what happened better than most. skeptoid dot com

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

paxys 2y ago

I would be on the YouTubers' side except they are the ones who have been shilling Honey non-stop for years to begin with. You don't get to cry "I've been scammed" after happily accepting money to perpetuate the scam to your users.

Bluestein 2y ago

Warranted. Congrats.-

voxadam 2y ago

LegalEagle's video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H4sScCB1cY

hypercube33 2y ago

I wonder if there is a case for the users who purchased items thinking they were supporting creators but instead were not. Doesn't look like this specific class action is that.

HeyTomesei 2y ago

Ryan Hudson, the founder of Honey, launched a new company that's already under scrutiny for similar practices: Pie.org (despite being for-profit). Founded in March 2024, it already hit 1M downloads and has 20+ employees/10+ Engineers.

financetechbro 2y ago
Do we know if Honey has been sketchy from the start or if it started after they were acquired by PayPal in 2020?
- HeyTomesei 2y ago
  Yeah, it had a sketchy reputation before the acquisition - here's a 2019 HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589352

MiguelX413 2y ago

Is there a plugin I can use to remove affiliate links altogether for privacy purposes?