In an apparent reaction to the infamous Honey scandal that rocked the internet at the start of the year, Google has altered the rules around Chrome extensions to block the tactics the Honey extension is believed to have used.
Normally, a change to a Google affiliate ads policy wouldn't be newsworthy. But with the outrage from popular online creators over the potential loss of income from Honey's method of quietly taking credit for directing users to buy products, this is a big deal.
You can read the new rules in full on Google's updated Program Policies page (via The Verge), but here are the key parts:
"Affiliate links, codes, or cookies must only be included when the extension provides a direct and transparent user benefit related to the extension's core functionality. It is not permitted to inject affiliate links without related user action and without providing a tangible benefit to users. Some common violations include:
a. Inserting affiliate links when no discount, cashback, or donation is provided.
b. An extension that continuously injects affiliate links in the background without related user action."
Put simply, users of an extension now have to use or request an affiliate link via an extension knowingly. Also, that link must do something positive beyond just putting a company's tag on the purchase.
This is relevant to the Honey case since it's accused of secretly swapping affiliate links of other outlets with its own, and using inferior discount codes in order to claim more sales for itself.
Users must be aware
There's a further relevant section worth looking at here:
"Related user action is required before the inclusion of each affiliate code, link, or cookie. Some example violations include:
a. An extension that updates a shopping-related cookie without the user's knowledge while the user is browsing shopping sites.
b. An extension that appends an affiliate code to the URL or replaces an existing affiliate code in the URL without the user's explicit knowledge or related user action.
c. An extension that applies or replaces affiliate promo codes without the user's explicit knowledge or related user action."
In this section, Google states that extensions can't replace one affiliate link or promo code with another without the user's knowledge either, which is precisely another tactic the Honey extension is accused of doing.
Legal action against Honey is underway, so it's unclear how this story will end. But with Google's updated policies, it happily seems we're unlikely to get a sequel.
Honey claimed that it "follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution," in a comment to Tom's Guide when the story first broke, but it now seems those rules are changing to close up what could be considered an exploitable loophole.
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