🖕 Fuck PayPal
And fuck Linus Tech Tips for intentionally keeping quiet about this after they found out.
Ever since it was explained that Mr. Beast only smiles with his mouth, I get skeeved out every time I see him.
Just saw a video that the honey people are making another SCAM called PIE. They make an Ad blocker, then put their own ads. wtf.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VTxnM3J0I0k?width=828&height=466
I don’t really wanna watch a video… but how do you “steal” affiliate links or coupon codes?
If you are doing affiliate marketing for a company and they give you a coupon code for 10% off called GET10OFF and that code gets used, the affiliate marketer gets the sale no matter where they got that code from?
I guess most people don’t have much knowledge about affiliate link URLs and how easily they can be rewritten to shift where the commission goes. I implemented SkimLinks on a hunch of websites so I’ve seen it before. Forum owners used to get upset about anyone posting product links in their comments because they night include an affiliate code. SkimLinks adds JavaScript to every page that rewrites those codes to the forum owner’s personal account. It will even insert an affiliate code into basic Amazon links that don’t have one. Once this came out, forums went a lot easier on Amazon links.
After seeing all this, the second I spot a browser extension that wants to get between me and Amazon, I immediately assume they will rewrite all the links for their own benefit. Otherwise what’s in it for them? This news isn’t much of a surprise.
Just open their privacy policy and done. They sell your browsing info, and you could stop it there
Wait, when did Paypal buy Honey? 😳
2020 for $4 billion.
And Honey has always worked like this. So PayPal knew exactly what they were buying which explains the price tag. Paypal knew they were going to make their money back and then some.
I’m so proud I never consumed these guys shit
I never trust browser extensions outside of a select few. However, I have used Paypal quite a bit. I would think many of us have.
Was it all that surprising to you though?
By the time honey hit the scene we had been ten years into “sketchy Browser extension that monitors your browsing habits and injects ads”
I guess getting flogged by your favorite influencer ads a veneer of legitimacy for a lot of people.
You guys think Rakuten does the same? I have got so much money from them.
Rakuten is up front about it. They force their affiliate links, then pay you part of their cut.
Honey forces their affiliate links in exchange for maybe finding you a discount code.
I also think Rakuten compensates me fairly. I take the payout in Amex points. Instead of money they give me 1 cent per point which I can leverage to a value of around 5 cpp through transfers
Seriously.
If something advertises on youtube it’s a scam. Simple to remember really.
This isn’t even remotely true. There are lots of advertisers and sponsors that aren’t scams. But unfortunately our consumer protection laws haven’t quite caught up to the digital marketplace. So there is a lot of room on the internet in general for scammy behavior.
As always, it’s buyer beware. As well as a big amount of content creator beware as well.
I don’t mind things that are an actual thing to buy. I want to research it first–you can get a better electric razor than Manscaped for not much more–but at least it’s clear how they make their money. Honey was obviously getting money from someone other than their users, and that’s an immediate red flag.
I and many other people naturally assumed that honey was getting their money from consumer data collection. Which is why I didn’t use the service myself. The surprise is the fact that the scam isn’t just consumer data collection but actually stealing commissions from content creators as well as using consumers as a gateway to stealing money from businesses that they have contracts with.
Yeah. PayPal bought a coupon browser extension for how much? If the only thing they do is save YOU money, how come they can afford a sponsored segment in a mr beast video?
That’s why I did not buy an eco flow or jackary. Too many influencers was a turn off. I went with BLUETTI.
Ltt didn’t hide shit, they posted it on a public forum
They didn’t hide it, but a huge portion of their audience doesn’t read the forums. A 10 minute video of Linus ranting about them would have opened this scandal to a wider audience years ago.
There may have been non-disclosure agreements between Linus tech tips and PayPal Honey. They may have threatened to sue him if he went public. I’m assuming we’ll find out the details in the next few weeks.
Linus usually likes to rant about it on the WAN show then they usually make a clip for YouTube, but weird he didn’t do that for honey, maybe he didn’t know how far the scam went.
Could have a non disparagement clause in their former agreement
As creator that makes some of their profits from affiliate links, I don’t see how that could be the case for him.
Seems more likely they had a reason to avoid beef with PayPal.
Some very vocal people on Lemmy just love hating on LTT. I don’t think this topic was worth them making a main channel video on, I think their forum post was good and I believe they even mentioned this functionality of Honey a few times on the WAN show. It wasn’t a secret, and anyone who cared to do in-depth research on a potential sponsor could have found out.
Yeah, that not nothing but it isn’t far off. They have a massive platform. It deserved at least a video telling people about it.
Honestly I thought all of this was common knowledge at this point, back when I used Honey (many years ago) I saw its affiliate code in the address bar and thought “huh, that’s how they make money”
I remember researching it a while ago when I was curious how they made money. If anything else, this just illustrated glee little research and care people have with their online information.
Linus Tech Tips really is scum. Yet more proof of that.
OP isn’t exactly giving you the full story there. I know for a fact I’ve seen a video on this. I remember thinking at the time “well duh”.
Same person that said ad blocking was the same as piracy.
It…is? You’re copying digital content without paying for it. I use uBlock but I don’t pretend to have the moral high ground.
Have you ever heard his full stance on the matter? Because he clearly stated that this is not a judgment against using it. Heck, he’s been open about having sailed the high seas himself and still doing so for media he physically owns.
It’s just that gaining access to media while circumventing the payment (ads in this case) is basically piracy. Which is fair.
Signed, A uBlock User
It was a matter of time until the public found out about this. They couldn’t think in the long term, by not accepting a bit of backlash, exposing the scam they unknowingly participated in they only opened themselves up for more later.
They are not only evil, they are stupid too, which is worse.
Literally just watched that. I agree with his consideration that that’s fraud.
I have been using PayPal increasingly for online payments. Not sure why. I have heard old stories about PayPal but Honey seems really bad. Its basically a given that any fintech company are going to be dodgy scammers but PayPal seemed almost grown up and respectable. Guess not.
Maybe use privacy.com instead (they also have an app), they can generate virtual credit cards and you can set limit is (one time payment, or monthly $10 only, etc). It’s great if you need to cancel something or if they try to charge you extra. Saved me $150 when boost tried to charge me 1 year after I bought a phone from them!
It’s also great for predatory services like GYM membership that you can’t cancel.
I use Klarna for basically everything I buy. I should probably reevaluate that. But I’ve had no issues so far. It notifies me when my payments are due. Helps me collect the sum of what I owe each month, each week. Helps me group payments to pay similar/connected things simultaneously, categorize purchases, etc, etc.
I really hope there’s nothing dodgy going on there. But at least I’m not giving them interest on anything I buy. Always make sure I’m paying my stuff on time, and no postponed payments.
I’m guessing their business model is to exploit people who have issues paying on time and to collect interest and late fees, as well as receive convenience fees from stores implementing Klarna as a payment option.
I really hope there’s nothing dodgy going on there
In 2023 they got a 1.1 million SEK fine for breaking the law that regulates working hours. To “allow” (strongly encourage) your employees to work nightshifts you need a collective agreement approved by the union, which they didn’t have.
More recently, they got a 500 million SEK fine for skirting the anti-money laundering regulations in Sweden.
But at least I’m not giving them interest on anything I buy. Always make sure I’m paying my stuff on time, and no postponed payments.
The whole “buy now, pay later” deal is a credit loan. They are most likely paying the merchant directly and using your loan as collateral to speculate on the market, until you pay them back for that loan. If that’s true, they are making profit on the interest gained from your loan.
I’m guessing their business model is to exploit people who have issues paying on time and to collect interest and late fees, as well as receive convenience fees from stores implementing Klarna as a payment option.
Correct. Like all credit banks they promote the “buy now, pay later” option before direct payment, which is becoming a pandemic on our society. Hardly any user interaction needed. They also offer their own payment plans which encourages buying even more expensive items you cannot afford.
Oh you naive child
I thought it was just collecting and selling user data but while I’d bet it’s still happening - wow, this is way craftier.
