PayPal's Chrome extension 'Honey' loses 4 million users after fraudulent activity discovered


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As a result of the exposure of fraudulent activities in the online shopping browser extension 'Honey' provided by PayPal subsidiary PayPal Honey, it was found that the extension's users have decreased from 20 million to 16 million.

Honey loses 4 million users after being exposed for shady tactics
https://9to5google.com/2025/03/31/honey-extension-users-dropped-chrome-march-2025/

Honey is an extension that automatically applies coupon codes found online when you shop online on sites like AliExpress and eBay.

However, in December 2024, a video posted by the YouTube channel MegaLag accused Honey of tampering with affiliate links to practice cookie stuffing , obtaining affiliate revenue that should have been paid to influencers, and manipulating coupon codes displayed to users to induce them to use coupons from affiliated companies instead of genuine coupons.

Popular browser extension 'PayPal Honey' has been found to be stealing influencers' affiliate revenue and offering unfavorable deals to users - GIGAZINE



As a result of the fraud revelations, PayPal Honey is facing multiple class action lawsuits, including one filed by legal YouTube channel LegalEagle .

Separate from this issue, the browser extension 'Pie Adblock,' developed by the same developer as Honey, is suspected of stealing code from 'uBlockOrigin,' an open source ad blocker.

'Browser extension that lets you get money in exchange for watching ads' violates GPL by using uBlock Origin code - GIGAZINE



Following the discovery of the fraud, Google updated its extension policy in March 2025 to clarify the prohibition of fraudulent practices such as hijacking affiliate codes without providing any benefit to users. Honey subsequently updated its extension to not claim affiliate revenue if it could not provide a discount.

However, some users who left Honey have not yet returned. According to IT news site 9to5Google, immediately after the accusatory video was circulated, Honey's user base dropped by 3 million, from 20 million to 17 million. The number of users then temporarily recovered to 18 million, but at the time of writing this article, it was at 16 million, a 20% decrease from its peak. The rating also slightly dropped from 4.8 to 4.6.

Honey: Automatic Coupons & Rewards - Chrome Web Store
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/honey-automatic-coupons-r/bmnlcjabgnpnenekpadlanbbkooimhnj



At the end of the article, 9to5Google asked, 'Are you still using Honey?'

in Web Service, Posted by log1l_ks