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Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

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Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#31

Post by danpalmer »

operatingthetan wrote: post #24

I feel like this should be up to the affiliate networks to kick Honey out of their programs for TOS violations right? Or Google removing it from the Chrome store?

I would imagine that it’s hard to remove content like that. Is it breaking any T&Cs? Is it illegal? Is it harmful to users? If not it’s hard to draw a line and apply it correctly in such a way that you don’t get sued for things like this.

Alternatively, Manifest v3 is supposed to make things like this a lot harder. Users would need to activate the plugin rather than the plugin popping up all the time if I understand it correctly. Manifest v3 was designed to enforce better privacy practices in the Wild West of browser extensions.

Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#33

Post by [deleted] »

xyst wrote: post #20
sss111 wrote: post #18

How would you even build a better version of this geared towards consumers? I don’t see the incentives lining up unless you start charging for the service.

a simple database of coupon codes for each retailer. That’s it. Basically a “Retailmenot” copy. Interestingly, RMN did sue over alleged IP infringement in 2018 [1] [1] https://ia803106.us.archive.org/8/items/gov.uscourts.ded.656...

[deleted]

Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#35

Post by eviks »

sgerenser wrote: post #4

I love how the only historical discussion on the topic he found was a HN discussion from 2019 where at least one person was confidently claiming they don’t steal affiliate commissions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21589273

That's not the only one, Linus website had the same discussion an the confirmation that it did happen and lead to an end of their partnership

Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#37

Post by Spivak »

li_ion wrote: post #36

The premise of “trust me; I’ll find you the best coupon codes for that product; don’t look yourself” always rubbed me the wrong way. Sad to hear what they’ve done to the people who trusted them.

I mean, some rando's hobby project on github would pre pretty trustworthy in this space because the incentives are aligned. The dev and the contributors have no financial stake except as users who want to pay less for stuff. The moment it becomes a business that needs to make money it (predictably) falls apart. uBO vs ABP.

Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#38

Post by antifa »

operatingthetan wrote: post #24

I feel like this should be up to the affiliate networks to kick Honey out of their programs for TOS violations right? Or Google removing it from the Chrome store?

I feel like if I did this, I would be charged under the CFAA with at least 5 years prison time.

Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#39

Post by Spivak »

Rapzid wrote: post #27

That's wild. So they just take the affiliate commission for everything when installed? A lot of people purchase things through affiliate links to knowingly support the affiliate.. But if they have Honey installed it just "steals" the referral..

I don't work in this space but how is this not literally bright line can be proven by anyone with the extension affiliate fraud?

Re: Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam [video]

#40

Post by magic_smoke_ee »

In 1996, IBM's AIX with the web browser packages installed (NCSA Mosaic or Netscape, I can't recall which) silently sent telemetry back to their mothership without any clear notice or opt-out mechanism. They just sent data back home every few hours without telling their customers what they were up to. I discovered this because it was constantly keeping an ISDN router dialing at all hours, racking up telco bills for a dial-on-demand connection. Fixed by deny listing that particular IP to be un-routable.
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