New Zealand Youtuber revealed that Honey, a website under PayPal, may be the biggest financial consumer eyewash in history.

New Zealand YouTuber MegaLag recently uploaded a video revealing that Honey, a popular discount website recommended by many famous internet celebrities to their fans, is actually a scam website and may be the biggest financial eyewash ever targeted at YouTube influencers.

MegaLag said that Honey not only deceived consumers, but also stole the commission that YouTubers should have received for promoting this website. He believes that this form of online fraud has caused content creators to lose millions of dollars.

MegaLag has found after years of investigation that Honey does not benefit most users with discount offers. In addition to online consumers, those who have been deceived include internet celebrities promoting this app and individuals or companies wanting to earn commissions using referral links.

How does the online discount website Honey work?

Honey is a Chrome extension application. The official website explains that using the Honey browser extension, you can find various discount codes for items you want to purchase. You can use them when placing an order to get a discount and cashback.

PayPal acquired Honey for about $4 billion in 2020. Honey has approximately 17 million users and claims that each user can save about $126 on average each year and receive nearly 18% discounts.

This PayPal-owned app is a favorite discount website for content creators and internet celebrities, including endorsements from well-known internet celebrities such as Mr. Beast, MKBHD, and Linus Tech Tips.

Honey is a free plugin that allows users to find desired products online after registration. Then, the Honey page will pop up with “discounts” and redirect users to the PayPal website. However, the “discounts” provided by Honey are generated pages that show how much money consumers can save and give “points” rewards instead of “cash” discounts. In other words, it gives consumers an “illusion” rather than substantial benefits.

Is Honey a clickbait website?

MegaLag represents Honey, technically, by replacing the Affiliate Cookie generated when linking to the influencer’s recommendation code with Honey’s own Cookie, causing the commission for selling goods to go into Honey’s pocket, leading to the exploitation of influencers and the inability to earn profits.

Honey claims to find all kinds of discounts, but in fact, it is a pre-negotiated business sharing with partner stores. The ultimate goal is to import consumer data into the PayPal website, and consumers cannot verify that they can really save a lot of money. Free Honey is like a rhetoric loved by many tech companies. The product is free, so the user is the product that can be sold, which is called “the most expensive thing that doesn’t cost money”.

Is it considered fraud to use recommended discount links to stimulate consumption in digital marketing? It’s hard to define, but if the ‘black technology’ behind it secretly changes the profitable links or the ultimate goal is to steal personal information and consumption data, then it is a crime.

This article, New Zealand Youtuber broke the news that Honey, a website under PayPal, may be the biggest financial consumer eyewash ever, first appeared on the Chain News ABMedia.