Honey browser plugin controversy: Difference between revisions

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==Victim group 1: consumers==

Honey promises consumers that it will “search the web” for the “best deals available”. ~~What~~ it ~~actually does~~ in ~~practice is~~ search its own databases (a list of coupons) for coupon codes. In some cases, Honey finds a code and tells the end user. There is no guarantee, however, that Honey actually found that user the “best” discount code. On some occasions, Honey does manage to find discount codes that business owners never meant to make publicly available. More often than not, however, Honey will “search the web” and tell the end user ‘sorry, there are no eligible coupon codes we could find’. This level of inconsistency makes it hard to trust Honey to do the job they promise to do. Further searches for lawsuits with similar claims leads to a very similar suit against Capital One regarding similar practices, contributing to what may be a pattern among these "coupon-finding" browser extensions.

Honey promises consumers that it will “search the web” for the “best deals available”. This is contrast to how it works in reality, in which it search its own databases (a list of coupons) for coupon codes. In some cases, Honey finds a code and tells the end user. There is no guarantee, however, that Honey actually found that user the “best” discount code. On some occasions, Honey does manage to find discount codes that business owners never meant to make publicly available. More often than not, however, Honey will “search the web” and tell the end user ‘sorry, there are no eligible coupon codes we could find’. This level of inconsistency makes it hard to trust Honey to do the job they promise to do. Further searches for lawsuits with similar claims leads to a very similar suit against Capital One regarding similar practices, contributing to what may be a pattern among these "coupon-finding" browser extensions.

==Victim group 2: business owners and digital storefronts==

Additionally, PayPal offers business owners a program where they can partner with Honey, for a monthly fee (PayPal makes money). Business owners who choose to pay this “protection money” receive a guarantee that Honey will only show the discount codes they want it to show. There are documented instances of business owners finding what they thought were 'private' or 'one-time' discount codes being used by Honey users, building a strong incentive to "formally partner" with Honey and give PayPal its protection racket.

~~In a layman comparison, this~~ is ~~like somebody walking into~~ a ~~sporting-goods~~ store ~~and saying, “Hey, if you~~ pay ~~me $19~~ a ~~month, I’ll have someone make sure your customers only ever see sale tags that you want them to see. If you don’t, I’m going~~ to have ~~those same guys look through your entire inventory, all day, every day~~, ~~and tell customers exactly how they can pay you~~ as ~~little as possible”~~.

This is analogous to a store being forced to pay a fee in order to have their desired prices be seen, as opposed to having their lowest possible price being displayed if the fee is not payed.

==Victim group 3: online marketing affiliates and ~~ontent~~ creators==

==Victim group 3: online marketing affiliates and content creators==

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[[Category:PayPal]]

[[Category:Incidents]]

[[Category:Articles based on videos]]

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 ==Victim group 1: consumers==
-Honey promises consumers that it will “search the web” for the “best deals available”. What it actually does in practice is search its own databases (a list of coupons) for coupon codes.<!-- citation needed, and maybe reword for neutrality --> In some cases, Honey finds a code and tells the end user. There is no guarantee, however, that Honey actually found that user the “best” discount code. On some occasions, Honey does manage to find discount codes that business owners never meant to make publicly available<!-- cit needed -->. More often than not,<!-- citation needed, or remove quantitative claim --> however, Honey will “search the web” and tell the end user ‘sorry, there are no eligible coupon codes we could find’. This level of inconsistency makes it hard to trust Honey to do the job they promise to do. Further searches for lawsuits with similar claims leads to a very similar suit against Capital One regarding similar practices, contributing to what may be a pattern among these "coupon-finding" browser extensions.<!-- Instead of 'furtehr searches for...', just state the existence of other lawsuits, and reference appropriately -->
+Honey promises consumers that it will “search the web” for the “best deals available”. This is contrast to how it works in reality, in which it search its own databases (a list of coupons) for coupon codes.<!-- citation needed, and maybe reword for neutrality --> In some cases, Honey finds a code and tells the end user. There is no guarantee, however, that Honey actually found that user the “best” discount code. On some occasions, Honey does manage to find discount codes that business owners never meant to make publicly available<!-- cit needed -->. More often than not,<!-- citation needed, or remove quantitative claim --> however, Honey will “search the web” and tell the end user ‘sorry, there are no eligible coupon codes we could find’. This level of inconsistency makes it hard to trust Honey to do the job they promise to do. Further searches for lawsuits with similar claims leads to a very similar suit against Capital One regarding similar practices, contributing to what may be a pattern among these "coupon-finding" browser extensions.<!-- Instead of 'furtehr searches for...', just state the existence of other lawsuits, and reference appropriately -->
 ==Victim group 2: business owners and digital storefronts==
 Additionally, PayPal offers business owners a program where they can partner with Honey, for a monthly fee (PayPal makes money). Business owners who choose to pay this “protection money” receive a guarantee that Honey will only show the discount codes they want it to show. There are documented instances of business owners finding what they thought were 'private' or 'one-time' discount codes being used by Honey users, building a strong incentive to "formally partner" with Honey and give PayPal its protection racket.
-<!-- Needs changing/rewording to be understood without describing tony soprano - these kinds of analogies may be used in theme articles, but are not appropriate elsewhere -->
+<!-- Needs changing/rewording to be understood without describing tony soprano - these kinds of analogies may be used in theme articles, but are not appropriate elsewhere --> <!-- I made it sound less like Tony Soprano but I still don't know if this works -->
-In a layman comparison, this is like somebody walking into a sporting-goods store and saying, “Hey, if you pay me $19 a month, I’ll have someone make sure your customers only ever see sale tags that you want them to see. If you don’t, I’m going to have those same guys look through your entire inventory, all day, every day, and tell customers exactly how they can pay you as little as possible”.
+This is analogous to a store being forced to pay a fee in order to have their desired prices be seen, as opposed to having their lowest possible price being displayed if the fee is not payed.
-==Victim group 3: online marketing affiliates  and ontent creators==
+==Victim group 3: online marketing affiliates  and content creators==
 <!-- Whole thing needs rewording to sound less like a journal piece -->
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 [[Category:PayPal]]
 [[Category:Incidents]]
+[[Category:Articles based on videos]]