Biggest Scam in Youtube History

[@boss-anova]

Once again, laziness and apathy have avoided me a scam

[@mr.andrew6042]

right on brother

[@spyro2002]

Same here. Never been happier to not give a damn.

[@Idontpaytaxeslol]

Never have I thought that being lazy was a good thing

[@maddaisblubb7344]

lmao, story of my my life. just should have bought some stupid bitcoin back then. that would have been the move...oh welll....

[@superraegun2649]

Literally two clicks and I'm thinking "Lol nah".

[@Clover501]

I remember Markiplier said that “Honey is too good to be true” and that he won’t get sponsored by them because he didn’t know how they made money. That aged really well

[@thijmen5295]

The day Markiplier fucks up or gets canceled is when all hope in this world is truly gone

[@sublis939]

I didn’t see Markiplier’s video of that but it’s the same premise I went off. Like no way it’s that good, something is definitely going on behind the scenes.

[@turbo________]

good on him but that is kinda dumb. they can (and I doubt they didn't) just sell your data on what you buy, what sites you use, how much you spend... valuable data

[@DrawciaGleam02]

Which video of Mark's was menitoned!

[@naamaa6483]

Where did he say that

[@danielsaleman506]

Whenever I saw Honey a sponsorship I always said to myself “I should really get that” but I never did. Sometimes it pays to be lazy.

[@lzrshark617]

Same here

[@braixeninfection6312]

Being lazy and forgetful has saved me from a couple scams. Sometimes forgetting just works perfectly. I also debated using honey years ago but never did. Glad I didn't.

[@angellike4344]

Hahaha literally though 😂

[@crappycomputer77t1]

I've thought about that before. I guess there's no virtue in being lazy, but sometimes you realize later you dodged some bullets just by doing nothing.

[@BakerWood-sk5he]

'Laziness' is protecting us 😂

[@inkdragoon4547]

They have a saying for this over in Russia. The only place you'll find free cheese is in a mousetrap.

[@1magine_name]

Isn’t this Thatcher’s quote?

[@inkdragoon4547]

@1magine_name I just double-checked, and it's a Russian proverb. I don't know who this Thatcher character is, but they might have said it at some point.

[@seafoxx777]

@inkdragoon4547 I think they’re referring to Margaret Thatcher, former PM of England. I think she said that once, about Russia and communism.

[@inkdragoon4547]

@@seafoxx777 That makes sense.

[@gamzillio]

She was referring to free healthcare as a free cheese in a mousetrap. She said it on Soviet television, where healthcare was free. But her words didn't age well, looking how good free actually is in Nordic countries, and how crappy paid is in the other Western countries.

[@pauljoseph3081]

My habit of skipping ads, and disregarding brands when mentioned by all creators saved me again.

[@saltylemon2473]

Fr i dont even know what honey is cause i just skip peoples sponsorships, why do people even watch them

[@insanenetsurfer]

ultra facts - influencer ad = product ban

[@TheEmeraldWay]

I have given so many thinks Charlie has sponsored all of them are scams and he knows about them

[@Yami-mugoni613]

@@TheEmeraldWayeh I think it’s more so ignorance than him knowing especially with honey since there is no reason why he would be defending honey

[@TheEmeraldWay]

@ gamrrsupps is scam they refuse to ship to me and many people form what I found online and friends tryed to order cause him opera GX is a virus witch he can find out by googling he’s on his pc all day so he knows it is

[@Yaboyazrael]

"They called me a madman, and what I predicted came to pass."- Markiplier

[@Skelleytron]

Bro had a vision fr

[@Marqk-]

Linus also knew 2 years ago didn’t say anything

[@briandixon992]

They called me a madman because I said, “Fuck Moist Critical!” But I only said it because I am the greatest there ever was !!

[@unintellyjellie]

@@Marqk- LTT had proof. It seems shady that they said nothing, unless their contract got them by the balls which isnt completely unlikely.

[@toasteroven6761]

@@Skelleytron In all seriousness though, Markiplier knows about the concept of follow the money [trail], something you can apply to many things in life in order to be more acutely aware of things like this or conflicts of interest, foreign interference (geopolitics), etc. Something sound too good to be true? Follow the money (In Markiplier's case there was money missing). Research papers all doing the same things, and not investigating (or ignoring) something else for some reason? Follow the money. Protestors advocating for questionable things? Follow the money. Following the money is a great investigative sense to have.

[@evilbull8995]

Can't wait for the class action check of $31 in my mailbox 6 years from now

[@joesfather9122]

😔

[@Phuizour]

Wake up honey new stimulus cheque just dropped!

[@medicolkie3606]

fr

[@FigmentForever]

I got $718 from a PayPal class action settlement around the mid 2010s - back when they were partnered with eBay. It wasn’t advertised hardly anywhere, and look for something similar to happen. Admittedly, the amounts have gotten smaller since the latter 00’s but still get probably around 3-5k a year total from various ones annually.

[@snoop_lion]

To be fair, unless you were a content creator sponsored or using honey for literally every purchase for years, they probably didn't rip you off more than 50 bucks or so.

[@Medialess]

Now you see, this is the kind of thing i actually want to spend money on. Genuine people informing people about really in genuine scams

[@Medialess]

Soz I couldn’t give more, honestly amazing info, nearly out of budget this month from Christmas gifts, happy Christmas everyone, hope its happier without this bad honey

[@AmirE-m3t]

Why is the text black?

[@TrickyJebus]

bro, throw money at Megalag. not penguinz. thats the guy that did the work.

[@Medialess]

@@AmirE-m3t No idea

[@buster5661]

meanwhile youtube just scammed you out of 40% of that $1.99 you just donated

[@kyotaa9339]

The fact that millions of people used it for years without ever noticing the scam makes me wonder how many other scams like this have gone unnoticed.

[@adamb1098]

Because millions weren't scammed. Only really creators and at that the ones using affiliates were scammed. Still surprising more of them didn't pick up on it though.

[@GabrielSykes]

Brave was caught doing very similar shit, but everyone conveniently forgot after the CEO said sowwy.

[@antedeguemon1194]

That's because honey was pretty smart. They don't really scam the end user, beyond maybe sometimes not finding a coupon that actually existed. The ones losing are content creators and apparently some of the stores offering the coupons themselves

[@jsho574]

​@@adamb1098 The company's services didn't even do what it said it would do. If a store was partnered with them, they could have honey set up what codes it would suggest, making sure they didn't find the best deal. All while telling consumers that they found the best deal.

[@Tor-y6s]

I can name one: Insurance

[@fluffhead6757]

I remember, very distantly, removing Honey because it irked me how it constantly would pop up, but have nothing to offer. Boy howdy what a surprise that that was on purpose

[@rob2533]

This! It was annoying af and didn't provide anything

[@irresistablejewel]

@@rob2533 It just popped up to swipe the sales commission... super-highway robbery!... very naughty!! (Paypal paying $4 Billion, for this app).

[@aciesara5444]

Same. I thought it was just a shitty app that doesn't even check first whether they found an offer or not before pop up. Looking back, I was so naive to think this was unintentional and just a bad add-on, when the company behind it is huge.

[@ewetwentythree]

I wonder if this happened when PayPal bought them? I never used Honey, I couldn't tell you

[@ILikeCHEEZ9]

This right here, there was honey and some other extension, but i just decided to search for discounts on my own because it never did anything worthwhile, just became bloatware running useless processes in my browser

[@codarobbins7438]

A reminder to leave a negative review before uninstalling the extension. Google wont let you leave a review unless you have it installed.

[@destrobertoso3605]

installing it just to leave a negative review then uninstalling

[@ronin1648]

why? it is actually good for the user? who cares about the influencers?

[@destrobertoso3605]

​@@ronin1648 did you even finish the video? honey literally acts like it searches for all possible coupons and says there's none most of the time or shows coupons for worse deals then when you manually search for coupons you can find em and some that are better

[@joouniii]

​@@ronin1648 did you watch the vid?

[@destrobertoso3605]

@@ronin1648 finish the video, honey acts like it searches for deals and most of the time says theres no coupons or sometimes shows deals that are worse than manually searched coupons

[@meganfox772]

i also VIVIDLY remember listening to an H3 podcast a couple years back where he was doing a honey sponsorship, and he read out “i would never recommend something i don’t personally use myself” (it was part of the script) and he reacted and said it was bizarre that was part of the ad read. So manipulative of them

[@Blueberi]

Yeah, the Official Podcast had no problem promoting it blindly, though!

[@kelseywillow8110]

Yeah but he promoted it anyways

[@christmastiger]

I actually remember that, unfortunately after that there's been several sponsored ads that had literally the exact same line and he's said it, as have many other youtubers/podcasters/etc.

[@K2ELP]

Yeah because he didn't know​@@Blueberi

[@elliewellie_YouTube]

H3 has really gone down the drain

[@farrelfoster-lynam6683]

Megalag is an absolute legend for this investigation. F**king incredible scoop

[@IrfanTechGaming]

For real my guy is king

[@bababa7690]

@@IrfanTechGamingi respect the scam , I should of think of that

[@IrfanTechGaming]

@@bababa7690 u mean u should think of that? ( But where will it benefit u?) Can't understand 🤓 sorry fr

[@kyounao]

For real, just went through all his videos. The colorblind glasses scam and postal how it's still done manually with 10% error which is enormous.

[@roadkillgoff]

@@IrfanTechGaming i think they meant “i should’ve thought of that”

[@viro_]

Interestingly, KZbinrs who promoted Honey could potentially file a class-action lawsuit, claiming they were misled about the true nature of the extension, which harmed their reputation.

[@changsiah2]

I'm sure sponsorships don't truly harm their reputation They need to pay the bills and that's it

[@donaldlyons17]

@@changsiah2 Sponsorships pay people so if they did not want their reputation harmed they could have just as easily not taken the sponsorship.... Really!!!

[@RR-on4sk]

Possibly but it's going to be an uphill battle proving how much they lost due to it. Like how do they prove an amount? You'd have to know how many people would've bought from an affiliate link AND how many had honey.

[@sunn7615]

@@RR-on4sk If they can get hold of Honey's internal records, they could prove that. No idea how they'd go about that legally though.

[@CruelestChris]

More to the point, anyone using the affiliate system could argue that Honey misled them in that they were actually being approached by a _competitor_ rather than a third party.

[@wahlflower3517]

So this is why I don't really remember seeing Honey ads anywhere else besides KZbin. They were targeting people who would use affiliate links.

[@albertquintero5412]

It’s weird I saw honey building at La

[@ZENTHofficial]

@@albertquintero5412 that might be their office

[@NoCluYT]

They target specific youtubers that review or advertise products because most of their viewers are ready to buy something. Regardless of if the youtuber uses an affiliate link or not, their audiences will be most likely to download honey and purchase stuff ONLINE(most important part). If you advertised honey on a cooking channel, they couldn't really profit since the stuff that's most associated with that channel is typically bought AT the store. Plus cooking channel viewers aren't watching ready to buy those ingredients or utensils anyways, they most likely already have them and are following along.

[@ShonwaMcFeckerty]

@@NoCluYThow was it a scam tho pal? I mean it didn’t cost money to buy honey specifically did it it’s just sometimes it wouldn’t give u the deal it promised n took more commission. Surely at worst though that means whatever you’re paying for is just the standard price and you would pay without honey. Therefore no money has been stolen right??

[@alain4037]

Scam is a promise and then not delivering that promise, it's exactly what honey did, saying they searched for the best coupon but actually it had a deal with the store to serve you shittier deals than what they promised to get you.

[@lordtsweeble2898]

I watched some Shark Tank videos years back, and Honey was actually pitched in one of them. The way the investors leaned forward during the pitch of a product that, to my layman-brain, wouldn't be profitable, was really unsettling.

[@bigschmill294]

It was? I'll have to find that one. I don't doubt that at least one of the investors wouldve been interested, considering some of the fuckin offers they make "Yeah I'll give you your 20k but I want 65% of the company." Like, nah thats shitty and shady

[@mlisaj1111]

Totally agree. When I saw all the “Honey” ads I wondered how it was making a profit, and enough to pay for its aggressive ad campaign. Seems like not much money in a free search engine for coupons. I thought maybe they wanted to sell ads if they got traffic. And Shark Tank is a bit of a joke. The “Sharks” were thrilled by a chiropractor offering a magic bracelet that supposedly made people “stronger,” but the demonstration was actually a positioning trick, where slightly adjusting how your arm is held can makes a task seem harder or easier in the “demonstration.” No surprise it could not prove an effect or a mechanism of action, as described in several videos on the whole fiasco.

[@Justacatlmao]

"Honeypot: a person or thing that acts as a lure or decoy in a trap, scam, or scheme.". It was in the name the entire time.

[@vivekkaushik9508]

Bruh 😂😂

[@johnturtle6649]

I know, I've said this.

[@dracones3020]

Oh nah it was right under our noses💀

[@mustwereallydothis]

Coincidence? I think not

[@briannajazmin7144]

!!!!

[@govinddas7876]

The amount of times I've seen a Honey ad and thought to myself "How tf do they make money then?" and then proceeded to never get it is insane.

[@IHateKaeya]

right like i just assumed they sold the data of what people bought, BUT WHAT THEY ACTULLY DO IN INSANE?

[@DrFeho]

Just like pie the ad blocker... it's ran by honey, wonder how they are going to "pay us"

[@gmodiscool14]

Uh oh I've had it for a whil

[@icklewick]

doing the same thing with Pi ad blocker rn too. It's like they think we can't tell.

[@Jose04537]

If they don't publish their business model, is most likely a guaranteed.

[@NoOne-mz2gx]

PSA: The team behind Honey is also the same team behind the "Pie" adblocker which currently is spamming ads across KZbin.

[@splat-boy5414]

Shi I installed pie cuz my old ad blocker got malware

[@DontReadMyPicture-c2p]

*Don't read my name....* 🗣

[@SrirachaChugChallenge747-jq7by]

Funny thing is the guy in their ads looks like a guy i went to school with

[@stevesonbillson1206]

Handy info

[@Veznite5]

Seeing an ad for an adblocker is a redflag, IMO. no reason to switch from block anyway from what I've seen

[@a.cunningham4974]

UPDATE: LegalEagle is indeed doing a class action

[@eggheadtwoSCM]

I am too im bouta get a bad

[@eggheadtwoSCM]

Bah

[@eggheadtwoSCM]

Bag

[@leviathan7627]

@@eggheadtwoSCM you do know comment editing exists. right? also enjoy your bag of cash if you actually get it

[@fluffers7997]

Calling it Honey makes sense now. All the users were the worker bees bringing money to the Paypal hive.

[@RobotsDreamofSleepyNights]

"Honeypot: A lure or decoy; A person or thing that is used to attract or trick someone into a trap, scam, or scheme."

[@TheBanndit]

@@OVOJacob3 Sounds like you have no life.

[@mmm-mmm]

got to catch all then flies right? that's what they think of their "customers"... aka marks.

[@ItzRuby-o7]

Oh my God you're right. They may have not gotten all of us, but they still played the rest like a damn fiddle.

[@Delusional98]

@@OVOJacob3lol you should probably change the ovo in your name unless your cool with advertising a pdf file

[@deletedaccount4453]

KZbin journalism is so interesting nowadays. Glad this kind of stuff is coming to light

[@LightBlueVans]

i just had the exact same thought. youtube journalism is absolutely coming into its own. it’s a wonderful thing to see and i hope it continues.

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

real ass journalism moved to youtube.

[@breakupgoogle4584]

@@undeniablySomeGuy It would be nice if YT wasn't always censoring it. Many real reporters have tried to warn the public and have been shut down.

[@ferretyluv]

This is the kind of stuff that would have been revealed by muckrakers but that kind of journalism was funded by newspaper subscriptions.

[@DoctorDerpman]

I used to be really impressed by KZbin journalism after watching iilluminaughtii. But we all know how that turned out lmao

[@Sypirias]

I remember seeing EVERYONE sponsor Honey a few years back and I even debated using it a couple times. This is insane from any perspective.

[@6Simply6Sean6]

Same! I actually installed it to try it out but the few deals I was even able to find were like, 30 cents off my entire purchase so it wasn’t even worth it so I got rid of it.

[@nerdjournal]

You mean everyone was being sponsored by honey. I got you, boo.

[@oxxn111]

@@nerdjournal both are correct phrasings

[@mistorbear]

Never trust anything youtubers are paid to promote, it is a scam 70% of the time

[@WillItLase]

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

[@James-ly3wf]

“If a product is “free” it’s likely that YOU are the product”. As you’ve said yourself several times. I’m very surprised you let this one sneak under the radar

[@shadestrider1033]

...Any Linux Distro?

[@TheGrumbliestPuppy]

I assumed it was just harvesting data like every other free app. This is way above and beyond that. They actively steal the income of every influencer out there, and even worse it doesn't even matter if you've ever used their service or done an ad for them. They'll steal your commission anyways.

[@noahgray543]

Sometimes it feels like scammers new tactic is to have a billion scams and just toss them at you until one sticks. Something _always_ sneaks by eventually, for everyone.

[@bl1nd29]

I was buying clothes one time, and the website already had a huge coupon applied, then honey popped up and when I clicked for them to apply theirs, the price increased.

[@buckybarnesisapreciouslilb8386]

😭 What the hell

[@MephiticMiasma]

@@buckybarnesisapreciouslilb8386 perfectly possible lol

[@dinosuarzr0ck827]

This happened to me so often that I would often copy the code I had before running honey in case they applied a shittier one My dumbass was given them the benefit of the doubt thinking the tech wasn’t perfect 💀

[@Prokomeni]

@@dinosuarzr0ck827omg me too!! I would also watch “through” the honey window as it scrolled through its coupons to see which one was actually lowest and it was often not the one they went with

[@AlasNueveTres]

And after that they got the commission if you checked out, even if you did not use their coupon lol.

[@UntiedHawaii]

It never made sense how Honey made money but could still pay every influencer big bucks to promote it. Now it does.

[@planescaped]

My thoughts and feelings were that if it worked like how they said it did, then why in the world would they be giving it away for free. If it truly saves the amount of money it claims, then it should cost _something._ Businesses aren't known for their altruism.

[@Apate-]

tbf it said ads so i kinda believed it

[@Wildiscool]

Havent you been gone from yt sense 2022

[@foo4342]

@@Wildiscool where did bro come from

[@Apate-]

also this has almost nothing to do with the majority of how honey makes money but i agree it's scummy

[@Bread-nx9fo]

This and Better Help were literally ALL over youtube for years, constantly being sponsored.

[@hitthegoat]

The better help thing really ticked me off because in theory it’s a terrific idea, especially in a country with a severe lack of easy and affordable access to therapists

[@EruditeFeline]

Don't forget raid shadow legends

[@Ramenz-x1q]

@@EruditeFelineRaid wasn't that bad but it was a stupid little game.

[@aydenulery9562]

@@EruditeFelinewas that ever a scam I thought it was just dogass

[@DeandaGe]

Also established titles

[@Chinesetakeout382]

This is why I categorically reject any KZbin sponsored products.

[@TrianglePants]

Might as well reject trendy anything.

[@autsni]

I didn't even trust the raycons

[@drift1618]

I don't get any youtuber product OTHER THAN GAMERSUPS GET YOURS AT-

[@davedave3520]

Reject any ads in existence

[@heartshapedtattoos]

ever since i heard “if a service is free, it’s because (in one way or another) you are the product” i’ve always been skeptical about honey, and this is the same way i feel about rocket money. with all the heavy advertising both companies utilize there’s no way there isn’t something to be worried about

[@kirstenmueller16]

Rocket money isn’t free. You have to pay a subscription fee to use it

[@uuh4yj43]

rocket money probably makes money off of forgotten subscriptions on their free trial, its still slimy but not the same kind

[@jernstang]

i always assumed that honey made their money by collecting fees from companies to have honey apply coupons on that page with the logic being "if I can buy this product on 2 different sites but honey gives me a coupon on one of the sites, I will buy it there". Like how pricematchers do

[@DruggiePlays]

It's literally a honey pot

[@jarrmann]

you have to pay for rocket money

[@TryNotToDoTren]

Megalag is so goated for this. Watched his video around 20k views and prayed it would skyrocket so everyone could see

[@rananapier8424]

Yea i hope Charlie covering it gets it more coverage

[@TryNotToDoTren]

@@rananapier8424 yeah it should. Megalags video hasn’t even been out for a day and he’s pushing 3m views. Extremely high like ratio too😂

[@BradW-ye8cn]

​@@TryNotToDoTrenI seen it when it had 400 views

[@brandonm1708]

Yeah I’m subbed to him and was worried it might fly under the radar. Happy to be proven wrong!

[@Presto_001]

Just in time for Christmas too where everyone will be wanting discounts on presents

[@dudebromcfrattington6488]

I remember hearing about Honey, trying it like half a dozen times, realizing it never saved me a single cent, and then never thought about it since.

[@thehumanity0]

They used to way back before Paypal bought it (and ruined it)

[@thefoolsfavorite]

Literally same. I thought it was useless and doing a shitty job at "scouring the internet for the best deals", so I deleted it and while not thinking much of it

[@asriusdoesart]

Same here- I stopped using it so fast when it didn't find me shit- I even did what was done in the original video and searched for coupons myself just incase I somehow installed honey wrong and found plenty myself so I just got rid of it

[@Blueberryyymuffin]

I thought it was just because I’m Canadian

[@Mattt5]

Same experience

[@ThomasEM]

Google and other web platforms need to remove this extension from their browser libraries ASAP, otherwise they could get hooped into this lawsuit if they allow this to continue.

[@noahgray543]

I doubt it...? The internet, in general, is full of programs and extensions that do all kinds of things. Honey does explain what they are doing pretty openly - MegaLag just asked them and they said, "yeah, we do that." - and from Google's perspective, how do they know you didn't install Honey _because_ you wanted it do this? Linus tech tips was used as an example, and he is a good one for this because he has a sizable community of people who dislike him. Tell me you can't see someone going out of their way to install something that makes sure, even if they follow an affiliate link of Linus's, that he never gets any money for it. Not that this is likely, but there are a lot of extensions that do pretty niche things.

[@whereisCarmenSandiego]

I love that KZbin has become a platform for whistleblowers to expose scams and unethical business practices in a safer manner. The millions of people who watch these exposure pieces act as surrogate witnesses that will notice immediately if the KZbinr in question disappears or meets an untimely demise. Thank you MegaLag and other creators for bringing to light these misdeeds and holding these companies accountable. 👏

[@gradyshmalady8284]

Just don't forget this is a money making platform. They are not here to spread public well being or help you, they are here for money only. That's not to say there can't be positive things that come from it, but always have an eye open to any corporation.

[@MINETURNNOWGamingRblxOnYT]

Ikr

[@tjtomax]

If only these scams were pursued like potential terrorists are. Shame that we have people in charge of federal security that are less competent at exposing tech scams than some youtube content creator, that dropped out of high school. But hey, America's politicians literally sold out to companies like spectrum, Netflix, HBO, etc, for under 100k, when they signed into law that they can charge for a subscription, then charge for desirable content as an added charge. Net neutrality bill was honestly the precedent for the corporate greed and crime that has been happening in the last 10-15 years.

[@idonomaeatomoku9322]

Boeing whistlers should've started KZbin channels.

[@johncook9392]

Right?! Love or hate KZbin, it does give a considerably larger platform for whistleblowers than anything that has ever existed in the past. Like there isn't even a close 2nd...

[@MrMeattball]

This is insane. I’ve had Honey for the past 5 years, and have genuinely been wondering why the last couple years feels like it doesn’t actually find any working coupons anymore.

[@wehttam_1]

Same

[@Muppet-kz2nc]

PayPal bought Honey. Since then its been very mid. I always knew it was getting clickthroughs, which I could care less about, but the program modifying cookies without rendering a service is grossly unethical. Overriding when finding a discount is a gray area since it is delivering value.

[@alliew31]

Yeah, I don’t buy things often enough to need couponing, but I pretty much only used Honey for the points now. I’m going to cash out my gift card and then delete the extension

[@coyootje]

Same here, I immediately uninstalled the plug-in.

[@MRblazedBEANS]

Because it never has its a scam. Hopfully you deleated it.

[@Bigswordenergy-b7u]

BRO THIS IS INSANE. I distinctively remember markiplier calling it YEARS AGO it was either on a livestream or at the start of a video he shortly says ''I don't trust honey. Where are they getting all that money from?''. I never cared until now but looking back on it. That shit was crazy.

[@StellarAzure-gp9zg]

Stop being a bot

[@Bigswordenergy-b7u]

@StellarAzure-gp9zg POV: your a bot

[@CheefKueef]

@@Bigswordenergy-b7uyou just saw that tik tok before making this comment you’re not slick

[@StellarAzure-gp9zg]

@@Bigswordenergy-b7u buddy we know you are a bot. You don’t need to prove it

[@SpamtonPFP]

I don’t even care if you got this from a TikTok, the fact that these guys are going so far out of the way to whine that you made a comment that got a couple hundred likes is stupid. Don’t mind the haters, as they say.

[@breadedagenda]

Billions, Charlie. Honey will be on the hook for billions, not millions. It goes deeper than affiliate links.

[@tedsaylor6016]

Yep, Paypal would not have shelled out 4 Billion for mere Millions.

[@katzura_55]

Ive always wondered why back when I used honey a few years back, it always pops up as, " Sorry, this is the best deal your gonna get" type message. Didn't realize that it was this shady and this corrupt behind the scenes

[@nextcomet34496]

I was just watching that vid and was like hm I wonder if Charlie would comment this, your response was so fast 😂

[@Choccymilkaddict]

Nice pfp

[@artemvolsh387]

I think they were using the browser as they could, I don't know whether this is legal or not, but imho I think there should be a functionality in the browser that forbids extensions to do anything with already existing cookies, or have another way to identify affiliates rather than cookies...

[@zeasoldier]

Don’t be lazy and always find the code yourself. Any missed deal is on you

[@Paul-q3d]

Moist

[@Eefin22]

Reminder that one of the people who made Honey is now making the adblocker Pie, whose obnoxious ads have been all over the site. I believe it's found they're even replacing the cookies of normal websites with their own, so beware. Just wanted to make this known.

[@Koozin00]

Been seeing that ad a lot too, the ad had actually made me more upset than normal ads lmao. Now after all this and what you said, definitely won’t be downloading that, will be blocking that ad if possible

[@SavannahSteel]

Please report it.

[@Robyne-i5q]

I'm an ignorant old lady and wish I knew what this meant

[@purelysmetalnightcore]

Eh, I got Pie and it genuinely works better for more than free AdBlock. Yes the ads were annoying but I was only seeing those ads because my AdBlock would still show the first 2-3 seconds of ads. Now I don't even see ads when I open Twitch and miss 2 minutes of the stream because they're unskippable.

[@DrFeho]

@Eefin22 I have always thought pie was sus, before the honey drama happened, find it bs they can find away to not get hit by yotubs adblocker war, and " pay us " by watching ads. Also I'm sick of getting that ad like 20 times

[@Wolverine8721]

I work in sales. This type of commission stealing is not only considered fraud but can also be outright theft. Moist is right, what Honey’s pulled is a massive no-no and they’re gonna be lucky if everybody and their mother doesn’t come after them for it. Especially from all the big KZbinrs who have worked with them

[@lomiification]

i can see how that would be illegal within a company, but is it between companies?

[@james3003]

@@lomiification It is known as theft by deception. It is highly illegal.

[@Wolverine8721]

Its commissions it gets funky. At my job for instance we get hourly + commission. If I wasn’t paid my hourly it’s more straightforward ofc. But with commission, even within the company it’s almost never straightforward, but let’s say I made a sale and one of the other reps swooped in and claimed it. If the company doesn’t correct the issue I COULD lawyer up and claim the money was stolen from me. Even then, there’s a whole laundry list of things I would’ve had to go through to be able to really make the case that it was stolen and not just a an error on the company’s end. So between companies, it’ll come down to not only those requirements but however the contract between Honey and their affiliates is written.

[@ct5625]

I foresee a class-action suit coming up. Hopefully.

[@kai-gg2ip]

Doesn’t take a sales rep to know it’s fraud

[@removechan10298]

Don't forget, google is complicit in this by explicitly allowing affiliate code stealing in extensions (despite trying to ban all actually useful popular extensions)

[@noahgray543]

That really isn't how it works. You can make an extension that does just about anything, and it isn't like Google is going to check. Not any more than Walmart is going to check the products they sell. Or Valve check every game they put on Steam. The idea that Google would know anything about this, or care about what you install on your own copy of a browser, is just silly.

[@dabatman5187]

This literally will upset every KZbinr. KZbinrs who only care about money will be pissed because Honey is stealing their money, and KZbinrs who care about their audience would hate that Honey doesn’t even look for non Honey coupons

[@moisesmontecillo7570]

No bro you forgot about all the other scam ads. Idk why anyone would be surprised

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

​@@moisesmontecillo7570 Probably because this is an actual big company, not some shady new start up

[@micheleandhenrycasavant386]

We do believe influencers will be engaging in America's favorite hobby...

[@Yami-mugoni613]

I wonder how no one realized this then besides Linus ?

[@trying3841]

I don’t understand how they would be sued. They are breaking any laws. They are just pissing off influencers who steal other peoples commissions

[@yuru_rl312]

This is the first time I've seen a company that screws up literally everybody. The customers, the influencers that promote them, and even other businesses.

[@kv4189]

Its kinda based tbh

[@boranblok]

not even influencers that promote them eh. Honey steals from EVERYONE if you have it, any affiliate link you ever pressed, wether they were sponsored by Honey or not gets overriden. This is a heist on a massive scale.

[@siva6272]

research about harshad mehta , man scammed even the banks

[@purpplekushh]

it only stole from those who gave affiliate links, no one else lmao.

[@boranblok]

@@purpplekushh Bullshit, the gold program test verified that. He had no affiliate relationship at all, but if the used that gold program as a customer affiliate money was sent to honey and not the affiliate. I don't think they have a big list of "these people we steal from, and nobody else" and I have seen nothing to prove your claim.

[@whtevercomesfrst]

Now Im just waiting on the "Raid Shadow Legends Situation is Crazy" scandal video.

[@just_nini_yay6361]

tbh same

[@GB-oj2gt]

It's a gacha game. That's the scam. Software engineers literally get paid to make mechanics in tandem with psychologists to legally rob children and people with gambling addictions.

[@curbyourshi1056]

Nah, we all know that Raid's a "scam".

[@elox9808]

@@just_nini_yay6361didn’t ask hush.

[@AnalogX64]

Raid Shadow Legends is a fancy-skinned ATM machine.

[@TheFewAndOnly]

i feel kinda dumb for disregarding all those people years ago saying this is a suspicious product that probably leeches off you in some way, and it turns out it's true

[@WAVE0025]

I fr just thought that the way they made money was by selling data of what people bought, who knew they had an entire scooby doo villain's evil scheme going the entire time

[@dragonplayer55]

Tbh i think it was way better for them to scam this way than selling people's data, idk if it is worse to sell data or scam this way but who cares its a bad thing to do anyway.

[@MattSuguisAsFondAsEverrr]

it's paypal bruh lmaooo

[@mrfrog0913]

And they would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for them meddling youtubers!

[@opiumsigmaclan]

dont worry they definitely sell your data too

[@thingamobobber4384]

Fr. Like honestly i wouldn't even have mined the data selling but Jesus Christ this shit is just another level of foul.

[@jamesjdm]

This is illegal actually It's called "cookie stuffing" or "affiliate hijacking" and isn't new. I'm honestly surprised they did this considering they had a solid business model that people bought into and could generate real money completely legitimately... Instead PayPal is going to face class action lawsuits and FTC fines and criminal charges. It's going to be great watching justice catch up to them

[@lordburrito534]

Also if you ever see “pie” ads on KZbin it’s owned by honey, it’s supposed to be an ad locker but lord knows what that does

[@bren.r]

It’s okay they’ll pay millions to the third party auditors to downplay the revenue numbers so they can pay out only a few hundred million suit, rather than a multibillion one. Just remember how many had honey installed for all these years and consider the thousands in purchases each person has made. It’s a lot. PayPal is the most scummy company so it doesn’t surprise me that they bought honey for $4 billion. Just imagine how much they’ve made if they paid $4b to buy it out.

[@HistoricallyMC]

They could’ve made legitimate money off of it legally, though it would still be a shady business model considering they advertised it as being “a way to find every possible discount on the internet”

[@BerryFunChannel1]

@@HistoricallyMC well they've could've actually made it do that... they chose not to because of this scam...

[@Jose04537]

"Fines and Lawsuits" yes, a slap in the wrist for years of billions in revenue. Yes, billions, PayPal didn't pay 4 billions for honey just for giggles.

[@FakedavinciOG]

I always assumed Honey was a viable business strategy by just gathering consumer data and selling it, I never expected to be the equivalent of being flat out robbery. Allegedley

[@lukaszzylik4437]

In Minecraft.

[@DeepDownInTheOcean]

In GTA.

[@robgillan2493]

Are people this ignorant to late stage capitalism? Of course they were fucking us, they wouldnt have been able to sell for 4 billion if they werent fucking us right from the start. People seriously need to open their eyes

[@louisrobitaille5810]

Allegedly? That's a word you use when you don't have any evidence to back up your claims. We have tons of examples here.

[@gur262]

I can't read" allegedly" anymore without a tiny Simon whistler appearing on my shoulder

[@AoDIronMask]

So, Linus found out about the scam, quietly stopped using it, allowing millions of other affiliates to be mislead and scammed out of their commissions. That actually sounds kind of on-brand for him.

[@chem525]

It gets much worse. Honey will recommend high coupons, even private ones, to hurt businesses until they sign up and give honey 3% for not showing those coupons.

[@Quaternatary]

That’s rough buddy

[@HamChex]

That's rough buddy

[@--_-__]

I was pretty sure that was the third victim of the next video. Seemed obvious that if honey would always fuck [the customer] and [the youtuber], then randomly not fuck either, they're going to try to fuck someone else, leaving only someone on [the seller] side Waiting for the presentation and details but your [why] seems valid; I didn't think about it before. edit: someone on Louis Rossmann's video pointed something else I didn't think about: [the youtuber] includes both the ones that recommended honey AND the ones that didn't.

[@ChessGrandBassTurd]

That's the kind of dystopian high I've been seeking. Dat real GOOOOD-good

[@--_-__]

(original comment flagged): I expect that to be in the next part that was teased.

[@KudaXD]

Charlie's room in these videos recently is like a Clash of Clans Town Hall the way upgrades are just spawning in

[@quickplayzRok]

i was looking for a comment like this

[@utopes]

No

[@Ninjujitsu]

the fuck is clash of clowns

[@Varxiii]

Nah

[@unworthyjack]

Dam! that warlord titan though

[@ErickKhan]

Just downloaded Honey to be a part of the inevitable Class Action lawsuit 💯let's goooo

[@effurfeelings]

Lol

[@IrePosting]

W

[@Strife780]

Holy based

[@eastonwilliams1722]

You get 6 shekels

[@KerbeX98]

So real.

[@saurabhaiya]

I remember Markiplier said that "Honey is too good to be true" and that he won't get sponsored by them because he didn't know how they made money.

[@urjhani]

The ONLY reason I’ve even heard of honey is because of influencers that had worked with them. Absolutely disgusting that they’re robbing these influencers who are getting their name out there in the first place

[@Footballclips888]

Like everyone else, I heard about it from Mr Jimmy, I think his mother uses it

[@184Switch]

I don't feel as bad for the ones who promoted it, purely because they would have gotten paid for advertising. The ones it really screwed are the people who had affiliate links but never got paid to advertise it. Pure theft from them.

[@mandemfromcandem8473]

its really not if there big yt creators the up fronts at least 50k let alone kick back, moist makes 80k a decent stream no one should care

[@timw4432]

Influences getting scammed makes me happy.

[@Timi7272]

@@184Switch one of the top comments on the original video says they had to basicly quit full time KZbin because even with thousands, sometimes 1 million views on videos, they were getting like 100$ maximum per month from affiliate. I feel so bad for all the small KZbinrs out there, and also for their viewers who had honey on their PC and thought they were supporting their favourite creators when using their affiliate links.

[@BattlebornReapers]

Tbh KZbin is a culprit for monitoring channels more than advertisers....Better Help/Honey, and then KZbin wants to cry about Ads while half of the Ad feed is ad blocker ads....

[@angienichols0]

And the crazy thing, that ad blocker "Pie" you keep seeing ads for... was created by the same guy as Honey.

[@meptune0335]

@@angienichols0really?? i always thought pie was a bit sketchy. layze promotes it a lot. there’s just no way you can get money THAT easily

[@Zaluskowsky]

Plus a whole fricken ads are money scams anyhow

[@jendorei]

KZbin is not in control of whoever you take as a sponsor of your video, lol.

[@BattlebornReapers]

@@jendorei I know, but they had paid ads as well. There's so many terrible ones.

[@mikes.4136]

Honey: “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”

[@mtk10-r8f]

Scooby Doo comment

[@User1862_s3]

Scooby Doo comment

[@SussyBakkaAmongUs-k2g]

why everybody says '' scooby doo comment '' ? ok its scooby doo related but make a oryginal comment guys.

[@tntthekill]

Being too lazy to ever install extensions is so nice. Only exception i made for that is an adblocker

[@Selfsufficientme]

I've never used or promoted Honey because I could smell BS from the start, but I didn't realise it stunk that much.. Great investigation. This is bad.

[@alexclavelle148]

Hey mark, I love your channel thanks for being an honest hardworking guy!

[@Pixelator-db8hh]

​@@alexclavelle148 Bro what does this have to do with the comment lol

[@serenegenerally]

⁠@Pixelator-db8hhman let him compliment mark 😭

[@legrosalex884]

Nobody cared about honey honestly

[@rebekah7635]

I had the extension but it never did anything

[@Lundershot1]

It really makes you think what else PayPal is doing to fk over the consumer, investigate them immediately

[@funkeystudiostv]

It's a money issue, so it'll actually get handled by the government.

[@TeamMuggi]

A number of people encouraged me to use PayPal as a freelancer for payment, and then there's those who only want to pay using PayPal. All I remember about why I refused to use PayPal is that I saw a number of things in the EULA/T&C documents that I did not agree with. I don't remember what they were exactly, as it was years ago and my takeaway was just that I didn't want to be held to those rules. It is unfortunate that companies can write some very unfriendly things in there knowing that most people won't read them.

[@ImpatientPlatypus]

Breaking news company created by richest man on the planet does not have the consumer in mind omg no wayyyy

[@ProgPro96]

Oh PayPal has already had tons of scandals

[@Kloutkulture]

Too late Trump is getting ready to ban that bureau

[@thetallgrass]

Ive never used Honey because of the age old saying of "If it's too good to be true, it is"

[@brunosouza3326]

same, that saying is what kept me from installing it, and i'm glad i did so.

[@cleoh666]

Exactly!

[@1SmokedTurkey1]

"If it's free you're the product"

[@Pyro-k1s]

Ita literally not to good to be true

[@brainlessgamer_8]

fr this shit and the pie extension gotta be sus af

[@socko2085]

I'm no lawyer, but this seems like textbook wire fraud. This may possibly be the biggest class action in history.

[@Neil3D]

I've never uninstalled an extension so fast. I've never given so much unhinged abuse in the "why are you leaving" box. They're gonna regret leaving that up.

[@itsjustaviper]

Oh? Do tell us what you wrote. I'd bet it's fucken hilarious

[@missxmettastars5740]

yep it's getting off my pc now lol

[@xXsharpiescarsXx]

@@OVOJacob3I’ve never been to ovojacob

[@kenyizm474]

@@OVOJacob3onb 😭

[@hafann]

@@OVOJacob3 how tf is that glazing? Nah bro something is wrong with your mind

[@watertoast]

I’m genuinely happy Charlie is talking about this; having a big content creator such as him speak on this should bring more attention to the disgusting acts of this company.

[@MayMay-g8z]

Ai generated

[@TenerexBlatta]

not only that, he is always helping cleaning out the toxic off the internet, and keep us safe in a sense, he is a good dude fr

[@keller8821]

I mean he was sponsored by it and didn’t do his due diligence back then. Given most people didn’t but still. Goes to show how important it is to do your research before accepting money.

[@squishgod9094]

Bot comment good lord

[@grugglethegreat8172]

I mean he was in the video, lol.

[@georgemarceau3771]

when i was younger my dad overheard a honey ad segment in a mr beast video i was watching, and the first thing he said was "that sounds like a scam". this was back when honey was first starting to "partner" with creators. my dad called it from the start man.

[@mucicafrajer]

You should listen to him instead of Mr Scumbag Beast

[@QuestBit]

I been saying Mr ho3 promoted it in the past

[@QuestBit]

@mucicafrajer fax

[@nowhere4603]

@mucicafrajeryou do realize Mr beast knew nothing about that right?

[@crankheart]

@mucicafrajer this was probably like 6 years ago chil

[@Damechtia]

And as of today, legal eagle is going to sue Honey for all content creators and consumers that have been affected.

[@Anonymous4045]

Consumers?

[@Damechtia]

@Anonymous4045 I'm sorry, did you not know what that word means?

[@Anonymous4045]

@@Damechtia oh that must be it, it's that I'm illiterate and not that the website states "This case is for Content Creators only."

[@sriavula]

Moral of the story, if a company is going full force on marketing, they are hiding something

[@DuckG2002]

More like if a FREE service is going full force with marketing, but yeah.

[@sriavula]

@ nah even if it not free, ive seen lot of scams

[@adambunt2280]

Rise of kingdoms is shivering rn 😂😂

[@supertornadogun1690]

Kinda like that pie adblocker lately

[@DylanDoel]

opera gx

[@brianlentz8762]

I wonder how many sponsorship deals were dropped because Honey took the credit for the sale instead of the influencer and then the sponsor was like "yeah, sorry, your numbers aren't high enough"

[@davidg2521]

I am surprised none of the sponsoring companies questioned why they were paying so many commissions to honey.

[@admiralkaede]

@@davidg2521 because they dont care

[@Latchback]

It's not like they knew it was happening. They just saw a huge disparity in clicks vs conversion but it dosent say who the conversion went to if it was not you.

[@X-S-V-b1e]

​@@davidg2521I'm surprised Charlie skipped over his part

[@williamnixon3994]

@@davidg2521 Why would they? The ones getting screwed are the end user (inferior deals) and the sponsoring youtuber (hijacking cookies to lead to Honey instead of the KZbinr), the rest benefit from Honey pulling what should be (if it isn't) fraudulent business practices

[@arcstatic8950]

Two words... Cost effective. If it's cost effective to commit fraud, with ZERO fear of jail time, companies will actively commit fraud. They will pay a $100 million settlement, after raking in $3.8 billion over years.... Cost effective.

[@JohnS-il1dr]

Thats how banks operate. Wells Fargo, Chase and HSBC paid out mega millions in fines which is couch change in comparison to the billions they raked iin.

[@Sonichero151]

It sounds like we need to increase the price of those crimes....... *HEAVILY INCREASE*

[@robd5257]

Its downright nasty! Straight up Evil basically! Humans never learn... seems that way

[@TwiliPaladin]

​@@Sonichero151"Just one more lane" vibes. It's time these things get punished with prison time.

[@Rcthans]

Like making food in the supermarket with bad chemcials. Because now they have a bigger profit, because production is cheaper. Oh a few people died, we pay them 100 million. But we saved 500 million. Its unbelievable but it happens daily. Everywhere

[@Sibertooth1]

So glad you raised awareness about this, hopefully honey will go out of business

[@theshadowmole]

Awesome you gave Megalab the credit and are bringing more attention to this with your big audience

[@3am.chapters]

He has to give credit, more like it's mega's content 😂😂😂😂😂

[@moistycheeks724]

@@3am.chapterslol this is the internet, Charlie doesn’t have to credit him

[@funskyfunsky9531]

At the end of the video, he says he'll put the link to Megalab in the description. As at 24/12/24, there was no link.

[@Azunede]

​@@funskyfunsky9531 5 minutes after your comment, it's the first link.

[@FlyingPigChannel]

@@funskyfunsky9531I see it

[@JagenRay]

The consumer scam is exactly how I always expected Honey was screwing over users to be profitable, but the affiliate scam is shockingly evil beyond my expectations.

[@talaris-uk]

I did don’t get where the money Honey receives is coming from in both cases though.

[@arandomhobbit7690]

@@talaris-uk Ok. In the first case, they take 3% of all sales partnered businesses do online, in order to prevent users from seeking better coupons. In the second case, they take the ENTIRE commission fee that a promoter would have earned, since they replace the link with their own. These both go directly into the pockets of honey, at almost no cost to them.

[@carlosm.sierra1465]

​@@talaris-ukthey are supposed to give commision money to the influencers for every purchase people make with their special link, but they sneakily switch the link at the last moment and the influencer doesn't receive any money and the commision goes to honey. For the consumer part is basically honey gold is a premium service where you get cashback for each purchase you make with your honey account, and the scam is that the points they use as cashback are mostly worthless and gives you back pennies for big purchases

[@zunky242]

@@talaris-uklet’s say Charlie is sponsored by a pic company you click the link buy a pc Charlie’s cut is taken by sleazy honey which did nothing but show a click in comparison to a KZbinr brand identity endorsing that company

[@logandarnell8946]

@@talaris-ukcommissions and payment from the companies for the service of keeping customers from using better cupons. it was explained pretty cut and dry. salesmen get commissions (a cut of the sale) for things they convince people to buy. its the whole reason that job exists. it gets the company more sales and gets you a quick buck. honey is fraudulently abusing that system by inserting themselves into the equation.

[@addictionsucks8848]

I appreciate your apology for advertising it. I've been using it for years specifically because you endorsed it. It's a dark day for all of us that have been scammed

[@kingkongcreeper]

He knew. I have proof

[@doosdoos6734]

LOL why waste money on these guys, they don't know you and probably never will.

[@O-ka-mi]

@@kingkongcreeper present it

[@craignite8089]

You weren’t scammed lol

[@alissacrizler4908]

Jesus loves ya!

[@Cheese_Lad7]

I love how i found this 2 days after seeing a tv ad of Honey

[@Plus_Escapee]

They're stealing people's commissions while also NOT finding you good coupons much of the time. That's dooky stacks.

[@adamwilliams5426]

But they do find you coupons for free. Not all the time but sometimes. Money saved is money saved..

[@XXPYR0XX]

9:36 hey you conshoemer!

[@pranavmittal5098]

@@adamwilliams5426 LOL watch the full video ; sellers increase the price

[@tython7253]

“dooky stacks”, how long have u been watching moist?

[@tonygluk1]

@@adamwilliams5426Yes but they also deliberately mislead you by stating that you're getting the best deal possible even if they haven't found anything. People who would search for coupons before Honey, were dissuaded from doing so by it, thus losing money.

[@Leslie-Kelly]

When you see a lot of advertisements for anything on KZbin but never in real life, it's a scam.

[@greg8224]

Idk Raid Shadow Legends has been pretty good for me

[@rainboltfiend]

real

[@b4rk_b4rk]

These advertisements are in real life, what world are you living in?

[@calebneeley9678]

@@b4rk_b4rk😂nice profile picture lad

[@gigaprofisi]

Bot

[@martinscrszy]

The fact that it affected even smaller influencers that had never even gotten paid for promoting the service is wild. The big people promoting it got paid for the add spot at least but in turn not only does it affect their own affiliate links but even those of other peoples that never promoted it in the first place.

[@VrtuhubTech]

Yeh mind boggling to know users who clicked on affiliate links to support their influencer and content creators only for them to get hijacked by honey without them knowing. The influencers who have never endorsed or promoted honey are victims in all this too

[@BlckSWANWhtRbbt]

For real! I'd wager the majority of stolen commissions were not from influencers making any money on Honey. I watch small channels dedicated to day planners etc. They make a large chunk of their income off affiliate links. That is so scummy!

[@VrtuhubTech]

@@BlckSWANWhtRbbt yep I'm exactly that type of channel, a lot of the items I review I buy when my own money and make honest reviews about and let me viewers know they can click the affiliate links to support the channel. Everything is done transparently and for honey to be able to override those affiliate links without the shoppers content or acknowledge is shameful. It's must have effected smaller channels hugely and also mislead customers expecting coupons for the best deals

[@emmanuelvanderschelden9474]

I see a KZbin ad, i skip a KZbin ad. That saved me

[@MINETURNNOWGamingRblxOnYT]

Adblocker? “Doesn’t follow the best practices for chrome extension” ❌ Literal thief extension? Perfectly fine ✅

[@Nemesis9K]

Use Firefox. All these issues will become alien to you.

[@The_RetroManiac]

If it makes Google money, they will look the other way

[@Zrelix]

How was google supposed to know lmao? This just came out

[@Nixolodeon]

this comment was on the megalag video

[@theoneandonii]

@@Nixolodeon i was about to say the same 💀

[@codyallen43]

This is unironically one of the most genius schemes I've ever seen. On top of everything else they do, they advertised almost primarily through KZbin and other influencer sites, ensuring that the people who mostly downloaded the app would be the sort of people who are more likely to click affiliate links, ensuring more money for them. Absolutely diabolical

[@L4Vo5]

I don't think so? they can get their own affiliate link to take effect whether it's overriding someone else's or you just reached the page normally

[@aesmaeilig]

​@@L4Vo5 whoops... thought you were replying to a different comment.

[@NoCluYT]

I don't think Honey purposely does it to replace KZbinr affiliate links. This works regardless of what link you originally used. It's likely a case of oversight or them simply not caring that it might replace someone else's affiliate link. I don't think this practice on its own is exactly immoral, but they should leave a check box asking you to use their own affiliate link.

[@00shivani]

​@@L4Vo5 commissions vary per creator, as displayed by megalag nordVPN example. Honey would not make 35$ commission on its own. commission for someone like mr beast will be way higher due to his reach. honey will get a basline commission based on what.. 20 million user base? well a lot of these creators have way more viewers, especially combined, meaning higher commissions. honey snags ALL commissions. in case someone gets on the page NOT via creator, yes honey also has their own commission link but it is probably not as much, hence the desire to steal from others. at least thats my math

[@AussieLeBrown]

@@L4Vo5do you not understand how affiliate links work?😂 Not possible to get commission for affiliates if not affiliate link was opened…

[@corsetedwasteland2630]

I've never been more glad that I was too forgetful to get Honey than I was when I watched the Megalag video last night. His video was SO thorough and well done.

[@yeettheheat]

Legal Eagle has already started a Class action Lawsuit

[@EyelessAugust]

This is why I’m skeptical to companies/brands who sponsor influencers in waves. Not because I think influencers are always in on it but because they’re often being taken advantage of like this, especially smaller ones trying to grow their channel and being excited over sponsors

[@TrippyTooni]

@ replying to reasonable constructive comments with unnecessary remarks is seriously rude. do you think you’ll get a medal for going around acting like this?

[@chrisalex82]

Proton vpn is the only true vpn

[@Ramzoa_NZ]

​@@OVOJacob3🤦‍♂️

[@tominieminen66]

Unfortunately, content creators/influencers rarely check the validity of their sponsors. And even when the fans inform them in every video that they are sponsoring a scam, they do nothing and continue to make more ads for those sponsors. Especially with BetterHelp, basically the top comment when their ad is in a video is almost always informing that it's a scam. But nothing changes.

[@petersansgaming8783]

In general, a company with a good product would not spend that much money for KZbin sponsors across the board (not even in the same niche the product would actually fit into).

[@joelbroadcastinggroup7991]

i remember when mutahar used to pause every honey sponsorship he watched and just said "I have never saved a single cent using honey." and wouldnt say anything else

[@IAmGodHimself777]

Mutahar’s cancelled now too…

[@fhoenixellis9397]

When I used to use honey I would constantly say the same thing. It was a waste of browser cache before all of this.

[@HUEYnoFreeman]

Why?​@@IAmGodHimself777

[@the_observer9786]

Really? What happened?? ​@@IAmGodHimself777

[@SahiPie]

@@IAmGodHimself777why’s that?

[@BlackfyreNoa2003]

It’s like BetterHelp being exposed years ago, yet modern youtubers still make ads for them for sponsorship money

[@KBorePC]

Because most creators don't care. If they don't make money through affiliate links, then I bet most will take Honey sponsorships still because they don't care about anyone but themselves. End users aren't affected, it's just affiliate marketers.

[@zoom_playz3979]

true

[@G3rmanhenry]

@@KBorePCwhat’s ironic is that if they took the honey sponsorship money and then tried to do other affiliate sponsors but lose out due to every one of their viewers had honey installed 😂

[@Zanemob]

@@KBorePCI used to comfort watch BigTugg for years. Then he started taking scam sponsorships like Fuum and BetterHelp YEARS after their exposure and many comments warning them but he’d rather poison the minds and bodies of his fans for a quick buck than care at all so I unsubbed. I feel gross ever watching him now..

[@honeyosweet3877]

Wait what did better help do?

[@joewee]

There's some irony that an exposé video about "stealing money from influencers" took years of hard work for 14 million views, and Charlie basically recorded himself watching that person's work for 10 million. They're even the same length. lol

[@Anonymous4045]

It's naive to think the world operates fairly, where more effort always leads to a better result.

[@Art-enjoyer_Fern]

I honestly feel the same- like I'm glad it's helping spread the news to more people, but this does not feel like it's adding all too much to the situation other than "i also used to partner up with honey and I'm sorry for anyone i got to join, I'm shocked how fraudulent they are too!" Or "i think they'll be a lawsuit." That's pretty much the extent of it. I'd be one thing if the original video was really dry and hard to get through or understand and having your hand held through the whole thing was needed and beneficial but that's just not the case? It kinda just rubs me the wrong way. I dunno, I'm conflicted.

[@raspberrytaegi]

@Art-enjoyer_Fern other than providing the apology and endorsement + summary of megalag's opinions, the other value he adds is humor. many people love charlie for his dry delivery, sex jokes, and deep understanding of gamer and meme culture. and i say that as someone who doesn't even like him much due to the whole bragging about guns thing. in the reactor economy, charlie is one of the ones who actually moves his lips and doesn't just watch full clips

[@ThatGreyGentleman]

This makes SO MUCH SENSE considering I’ve had several brand deals with companies that allow Honey that I just…never got any commission on.

[@dannysmi7162]

Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey is better.

[@mendaciousreality8459]

Yeh dude I lost close to a milli…. Welcome to the club

[@zackinator1439]

As someone who's in computer security, these kinds of things are exactly what security people are talking about with "running someone else's code on your machine." You assume it's doing something and it's not. You assume it's a browser extension because "Oh it's right there in your browser. It's more convenient." When it's actually in the browser so that it can modify cookies and open new tabs without interaction.

[@requiemforameme1]

I’d argue this doesn’t really pose a security threat necessarily. It’s just blatant greed. Someone set the logic to override the key value to referral code equals PayPal at the final transaction step. It’s equivalent to a BAU change in production in almost any company. I’m surprised it took this long for someone to run a Charles capture on any given purchase.

[@EnergeticGiraffes]

@@requiemforameme1 OP is right, if an exploit is found in this browser extension, attackers can use this to steal cookies, or to open a new page that is directed to a malware download, etc. it depends on how much access this browser extension requires to “run” and all it takes is a exploit, an insider threat at the company (rogue employee), or a developer’s account that has been compromised. This goes not just for this honey browser extension but ALL browser extensions.

[@Mazereaugh]

@@requiemforameme1 The reason that its a security issue is simply because it can change things based on how its programed. The extent of what it COULD do is significant. Since it can open tabs and things without you and alter links. it could easily be modified to redirect things to open tabs for illegal enterprises (I'll let you marinate on the extent of what they could be) which could land you in some hot water. With a couple extra strings of code, it could then just nullify its involvement after the fact meaning that you're left on the hook for what ever they want you to. That last part is just if they want to and COULD be affected by litigation depending on where they're based out of. Think of it as one of those bits of Malware what locks you out of your browser/computer or some scammer who wants to blackmail you. Its not too far of a stretch at just how possible it is. Granted, if it were happening on a large scale, they'd probably get taken down somewhat quickly (or I'd like to hope so anyway).

[@EnergeticGiraffes]

⁠@@Mazereaugh Exactly.. And the fact that Honey is trying to be this “sneaky” is definitely a red flag especially for cybersecurity folks.

[@redwiltshire1816]

@@requiemforameme1by the definition of malware Honey counts as a malware even something like just reading a username is malware because it can be exploited

[@WFanatic502]

MegaLag got a subscriber just now. Love this type of coverage. Love coffeezilla for the same reason. Gotta support the people with integrity that investigate this stuff.

[@JesusPlsSaveMe]

Where are you going after you die? What happens next? Have you ever thought about that? Repent today and give your life to Jesus Christ to obtain eternal salvation. Tomorrow may be too late my brethen😢. Hebrews 9:27 says "And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after that the judgement

[@vez3834]

​@@JesusPlsSaveMe I'll go to Coffeezilla

[@freewillygoss]

@@JesusPlsSaveMe You can go to Hell I'm going to Toyotathon

[@gentlemanjym]

​@@JesusPlsSaveMe Matthew 6:5-8 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Practice what you preach.

[@Jonasgp123]

@@JesusPlsSaveMe YUCKY

[@mge8942]

I would love to see all the influencers, including yourself come together and sue them

[@gxalcremieshiny4229]

I once saw a Honey sponsor and was like "but... how do THEY get money...?" I shrugged it off, and never thought about it again

[@lucakun3455]

I just saw honey, thought the same, then thought they probably get you a code for 15% while the actual code is giving 20% so for you getting the code searched you "pay" those 5%. yea, could have thought that one more through. the whole system could have worked but only if you like bought it through honey, not just through a browser extention. so it never was really that there wasn't a way in which they could have made money but the was that would have been possible would have been more complicated than it be aplicable through just an browser extention

[@Beanzoboy]

I figured they just sold your information like every other website and ad site does. Turns out, it was much more devious than that.

[@gaydrienagreste]

honestly i thought it was because they were getting paid by companies to promote codes or something

[@NudgieBytes]

Honey has stolen an estimated 3.1 Billion USD with coupon overrides.

[@AirrEnthusiast]

Chat is this real

[@sarranasif6705]

WHAT!?

[@marvindebot3264]

That almost sounds like it's on the low side. This is huge.

[@uponeric36]

Across 5000 creators, that's 600k. So if they get together and class action as the main victims, they might get a huge chunk of pie even with a shit payout.

[@necroticdemonart]

I don't get it? When I used it I got lots saved off my purchase but I'm in the UK so it could be different

[@Teatur_]

I really appreciate you covering only half of the original video. It’s pushing me to go and watch megalags original video

[@crexux_nv]

he did it on purpos to help people go to the originalvideo

[@rjun152]

But how are both videos 23 minutes?

[@antonia555]

@@rjun152 yapping

[@jkb1.0]

@@rjun152 because the original is 23 minutes, he's watching half the video and the rest of the time is him talking about it🤯

[@AvrilVentFleur]

the original is only the first half. The second half isn't out yet.

[@tomasotreasaigh111]

This guy is not crying for us, he is crying for himself... "Oh no!!! Boo hoo hoo, you mean your huge pile of cash should be bigger?? Poor Duck, DAMN THAT HONEY!!!"

[@Dope_Zero]

Fr😂 they are all greedy af and most of the big ones are rich af

[@doge_fish4820]

I automatically assumed that honey took a commission from the discount. Like, you would have saved $1.00 but with honey, you save $0.85 and honey gets $0.15. No idea why I thought this, probably because it’s the only way to make this not scummy.

[@HandleDisliker]

I think Honey actually tried that at one point. I could swear prices with the Honey extension were more expensive than without the Honey extension, but I may be misremembering that.

[@TheKeller101]

Honestly if that was all they did, I would have no problem. I’d consider it a service fee for searching for the code for me.

[@tturi2]

that would actually be fine, I'm still saving money using their service, for example, if it was honey gets 10c and the creator gets 5c

[@SnapdragonSK]

That model doesn't make sense for the stores, at least as far as I can reckon. The way the extension works, it only pops up when the customer is already on the site, already has items in their cart, and is already committed to checking out. At that point, the "come in and buy" marketing draw of a coupon isn't really needed.

[@aryansalunke]

I’ve had Honey in my Chrome Extension for the past 4-5 years but never expected those pop-ups at the very end to be scammy. Damn those money hungry companies looting everyone.

[@vikitty604]

Same, I’ve never used an affiliate link on KZbin because I’ve had Honey for so long that I already was using it. The rewards scheme is new to me though, like I have definitely signed up to get the cash back but it’s been like $2 total.

[@dickunderhill5183]

If the product is free then you are the real product

[@Microwavetoast5173]

what happened

[@kumquat19138]

pls stop using chrome

[@rainbowflowerpower4464]

@@Microwavetoast5173bruh, watch the video

[@lilyroberts2451]

I was hesitant of honey for awhile. What I learned in cyber security class:”When something is free, YOU are the product.”

[@davidneurocore]

LegalEagle filled a Class Action Lawsuit! So he's requesting any content creator to contact him.

[@kelseywillow8110]

Out of all the people another KZbinr jumps on this? Why can’t they get a real lawyer instead of that grifter

[@Ezaweta]

@@kelseywillow8110 But he is a lawyer?

[@therealblucyclon]

Kudos for speaking out regardless of whether you had promoted it in past and taking ownership on it. All other KZbin content creators & influencers that have ever promoted it must come out and speak against Honey AND PayPal.

[@o_o9039]

so all KZbinrs with over 100k subs 😂

[@admiralkaede]

lol dude why would they not this affects THEM not US this is not a scam for users but for creators if this was better help 2.0 they would be SILENT

[@neonblack211]

@@admiralkaede exactly lol

[@ArgonZavious]

Bro, This aint normal youtube. This is the remains of Old KZbin

[@admiralkaede]

@@neonblack211 yes

[@muaxh03]

I've always wondered how they made money and couldn't find anything and never used it because of it. If you think it's too good to be true, it's often is.

[@Smellyfupa]

literally why i never used it. it jsut seemed to good to be true

[@cubixoro9547]

Literally the exact reason Markiplier refused to take their sponsorships.

[@heyitsjustaz]

I remember browsing their website for a long time trying to decipher any kind of monetization scheme out of the buzzwords.

[@Istarelle112]

And nothing of consequence will happen to them. They'll pay a fine as the cost of doing business and that's it.

[@kman9884]

@@Istarelle112Well, people will stop using their service and they’ll die. That’s what happens in capitalism.

[@kabeerkhan9797]

I cant wait for Internet Anarchist to make a video about 'The downfall of Paypal"

[@Random-sk6hm]

''Honey situation is crazy''

[@donlalo2002]

Eh, I would rather wait for Company Man's, I like Internet Anarchist, but he overexaggerates and dramatizes everything while Company Man gets straight to the point with the facts.

[@kabeerkhan9797]

@@donlalo2002 that is true but i would like to know your thoughts about SunnyV2 then as I haven't heard of Company Man

[@KornKobb]

@@donlalo2002 Internet Anarchist doesn’t even really research. I remember he got exposed for his videos on the TekkitRealm being complete trash.

[@france_losted_togermany]

Gotta love always remembering to ask myself “how do the sites they operate on allow them do this? Isn’t it hurting their pockets?”