Legal Eagle YouTuber sues PayPal over Honey extension
Legal Eagle, the popular YouTube channel hosted by Devin Stone, has filed a lawsuit against PayPal regarding its Honey extension’s affiliate link practices. Stone, along with several other YouTubers’ businesses, initiated the proposed class action lawsuit in California’s Northern District Court on December 29th. The lawsuit alleges that Honey intentionally replaces creators’ affiliate links with its own, even when it doesn’t benefit shoppers, resulting in creators losing out on potential earnings.
According to the complaint, PayPal’s actions violate California’s Unfair Competition Law and disrupt the relationship between creators and their business partners. The plaintiffs aim to represent individuals who were part of an affiliate program and had their links redirected to PayPal due to the Honey browser extension. However, class action status has not yet been approved by the court.
Honey functions by offering to discover coupon codes through its browser extension. Recent revelations from YouTuber MegaLag highlighted how Honey, during checkout, replaces existing affiliate cookies with its own in the background, ultimately receiving credit for the sale, regardless of whether it provided a coupon code. Additionally, the complaint includes other methods through which PayPal is allegedly claiming affiliate commissions, such as through its Honey Gold Program and by urging users to “Get Rewarded with PayPal.”
In response to the lawsuit, PayPal’s VP of corporate communications, Josh Criscoe, stated that the company disputes the allegations and will vigorously defend against them. Criscoe emphasized that Honey adheres to industry standards, including last-click attribution, which is a common practice that credits the most recent affiliate with a sale at checkout.
While the lawsuit acknowledges last-click attribution as a standard industry practice, the plaintiffs argue that Honey manipulates this practice by enticing users to interact with misleading pop-ups that insert its own affiliate code. The legal team behind the lawsuit is requesting damages for creators and a permanent injunction preventing PayPal from swapping affiliate attribution during checkout. They have also created a website inviting other creators to join the lawsuit.
As of now, PayPal has not issued a public statement regarding the lawsuit. The case continues to unfold, and we will provide updates as more information becomes available.
