632 karma · joined August 9, 2014
You can look at my post history. I’m just trying to give an industry perspective. I’m not supporting what Honey or any shopping extension does.
I never said Honey doesn't override cookies. I'm not saying this isn't a problem, it's just not a Honey-specific problem. If the affiliate networks used first-click or multi-click attribution, none of this would be an issue.
He doesn't provide the context for what his timescale is for his specific case. He cites that it can be up to 30 days later and Honey will still take the commission, which is true, but most merchants don't honor any cookies that are older than a day anyways.
I'm not saying this isn't a problem, it's just not a Honey-specific problem. If he actually wanted to influence change, he should cover the affiliate networks responsible for dictating this behavior (CJ, Impact, Rakuten, Awin, etc). The extensions are forced to comply by their rules.
But I am just saying it's not a Honey problem, the blame is focused on the wrong place. If they want things to change, they should direct their rage at the companies who make the rules.
But they are allowed to claim attribution even if they don't find a coupon. Merchants know this when partnering with Honey. Most of the time, even if users don't find a coupon, they still get cash back which is funded through the commission.
Like I said, the affiliate industry is pretty wack and that's why I left it, but this is far from a scam.
So like I said, there are some legitimate problems with the affiliate industry, but the rage should be directed at the affiliate networks that dictate the terms. They could easily switch to first click attribution which would solve this problem.