Honey ‘scam’ allegedly duped influencers and shoppers

Recently, YouTuber MegaLag published a 23-minute video with serious allegations against Honey, a free browser extension claiming to offer online shoppers the best coupon codes for their purchases. Honey, a subsidiary of PayPal, also worked extensively with influencers and creators, sponsoring and running ads alongside their content.

“I hate to break it to you, but your favorite influencers sold you a lie,” said MegaLag. “Honey is a scam.”

MegaLag’s accusations included claims that Honey took for itself affiliate revenue meant for influencers who promoted certain products and that it had agreements with retailers to apply the discount codes they preferred. If true, this meant that both the influencers and online shoppers who trusted Honey were being duped.

MegaLag’s video, which has more than 14 million views as of January 1, prompted praise from viewers for the investigation as well as shock over Honey’s alleged tactics. Now YouTuber Marques Brownlee, who partnered with Honey in the past, has his own video explaining the controversy.

“Obviously, if I had known any of this, I never would’ve worked with Honey,” Brownlee said.

On December 29, lawyers representing content creators who partnered with Honey filed a class-action lawsuit against PayPal, claiming damages in excess of $5 million. Brownlee was not named as a plaintiff.

A spokesperson for PayPal noted Honey’s benefits in a statement to Law.com, which reported on the lawsuit.

“Honey is free to use and provides millions of shoppers with additional savings on their purchases whenever possible,” the spokesperson told Law.com. “Honey helps merchants reduce cart abandonment and comparison shopping while increasing sales conversion. Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last click attribution.”