Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The PayPal-owned Honey browser extension was recently caught deceiving customers and poaching affiliate revenue from creators.
- Lawyer Devin Stone has filed a class action lawsuit against PayPal over Honey’s shady practices.
- PayPal is disputing the allegations, claiming that it follows industry rules.
A couple of weeks ago, PayPal Honey was caught tricking its users and snatching affiliate revenue from creators. The popular browser extension often hides the best deals from customers when the relevant merchant collaborates with it. It also removes YouTubers’ affiliate cookies and injects its own to take credit for users’ purchases. Regardless of its legality, this shady, unethical extension has been harming millions of people, and it’s now being taken to court.
Lawyer Devin Stone (LegalEagle on YouTube) has filed a class action lawsuit against PayPal over Honey’s exploitation of creators. The case claims that Honey violates California’s Unfair Competition Law by meddling with content creators and their business partners.
In a statement to The Verge, PayPal VP of corporate communications Josh Criscoe denied these claims and said: “We dispute the allegations in the lawsuits, and will defend against them vigorously. Honey is free to use and provides millions of shoppers with additional savings on their purchases whenever possible. Honey helps merchants reduce cart abandonment and comparison shopping while increasing sales conversion. Honey follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution, which is widely used across major brands.”
If affected creators win this legal battle, PayPal may have to compensate them for Honey’s damage over the years. The case also pushes to prevent the firm from swapping affiliate cookies when customers check out. If you’re an impacted content creator, you can join the lawsuit by filling out LegalEagle’s form.
