Impact.com has removed PayPal-owned Honey from its Discovery Marketplace and suspended the company’s account after determining the shopping extension violated platform policies on affiliate attribution practices.
The enforcement action follows weeks of industry scrutiny triggered by YouTuber MegaLag’s December 2025 investigation, which documented how Honey’s browser extension systematically replaces content creators’ affiliate tracking codes with its own at checkout (claiming commissions even when users found discount codes independently).
Reddit Ignites the Controversy
MegaLag’s first 23-minute exposé, “Honey is a Scam,” amassed over 18 million views in 2024 and sparked immediate backlash across Reddit. On r/technology and r/YouTube, users dissected how the extension operated less as a consumer tool and more as a last-click attribution hijacker, inserting itself at checkout to capture commissions regardless of who drove the original referral.
The revelation proved particularly damaging given Honey’s creator-driven marketing strategy. Major YouTubers, including Linus Tech Tips and Internet Historian, had promoted the service through sponsored content, unaware they were potentially undermining their own affiliate revenue streams and those of peers whose audiences installed the extension.
Reddit discussions surfaced the core technical issue: Honey would activate at checkout even when it hadn’t found better codes, claiming affiliate commissions through last-click attribution—a practice technically compliant with many programs but ethically problematic when genuine influencers receive nothing for driving the sale.
Platform Response Signals Shift
Impact.com CEO David A. Yovanno confirmed Honey violated the platform’s universal stand-down requirements in a email, which prohibit partners from interfering with attribution chains. The platform will release software updates to “programmatically prevent the type of attribution manipulation we’ve uncovered.”
The temporary suspension remains in effect until Honey demonstrates compliance changes. Removal from the Discovery Marketplace—where brands connect with affiliate partners—carries immediate business impact. Impact.com powers programs for Walmart, Uber, Airbnb, and other major retailers.
“We take these matters seriously and will continue to enforce our standards to protect brands, creators, publishers, and consumers,” Yovanno stated in an email, framing the issue as affecting all ecosystem participants.
Future Outlook: Affiliate Reckoning Underway
Honey faces mounting consequences beyond impact.com. A class-action lawsuit filed in California alleges violations of consumer protection laws and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. PayPal, which paid $4 billion for Honey in 2020, has issued only a brief defense citing industry norms.
Multiple affiliate networks are reportedly reviewing browser extension partnerships, scrutinizing whether extensions provide genuine transaction value or merely capture commissions through technical positioning. The impact.com enforcement suggests “standard industry practice” no longer suffices as justification.
Creators have responded by removing old Honey sponsorships from videos and pledging to avoid similar browser extensions. The controversy has exposed fundamental questions about attribution ethics and whether commission hijacking can coexist with fair affiliate marketing.
