Scam exposed youtu.be
🛑 Honey Scam Unveiled: The video reveals that Honey, a popular browser extension marketed as a money-saving tool, has been involved in questionable practices. It includes deceptive advertising, affiliate fraud, and manipulation of influencers and customers.
• 💰 Affiliate Commission Poaching: Honey replaces influencers’ affiliate links with its own during checkout, effectively stealing commissions. This practice impacts both large influencers and smaller creators reliant on affiliate marketing income.
• 🔍 Misleading Value Proposition: Honey claims to find the best coupon codes for users but often withholds better codes at the behest of partner businesses, undermining its core promise.
• 📊 Business Partnerships: Honey allows businesses to control discount codes on its platform, leading to intentional withholding of higher-value discounts from users.
• 🧑🎤 Impact on Influencers: Prominent influencers like Linus Tech Tips unknowingly promoted Honey, only to later discover these manipulative practices. Despite ending partnerships, many influencers’ promotions remain live, perpetuating the cycle.
• **🤥 False Claims in Marketing: Honey’s advertising is called out for misleading statements such as “you’ll always get the best deal” and “no manual searching needed,” which contradict their actual operations.
• **🚨 Consumer Exploitation: Customers often experience Honey providing suboptimal deals or adding its own branded coupon codes instead of genuine discounts.
• **📈 Massive Reach: Honey’s marketing campaigns involved sponsorships with over 1,000 YouTube channels, accumulating billions of views.
• **📢 Ethical Questions: Despite being exposed, Honey remains active, with little regulatory oversight or accountability, raising concerns about online business ethics.
Insights Based on Numbers
• $4 Billion Acquisition: Honey was purchased by PayPal for $4 billion, showing the financial stakes behind its practices.
• 7.8 Billion Views: Honey’s campaigns amassed almost 8 billion views, illustrating the vast reach and influence of its deceptive marketing.
• 89 Cents vs. $35: In one example, Honey poached $35 in affiliate commissions but returned just 89 cents to the customer, highlighting the imbalance in benefits.
