Is Discount Extensions Honey Hurting Your Affiliate Strategy? Here's What to Watch Out For

Source: Insights derived from the investigative video “The Honey Trap” by MegaLag.

At Trackdesk, we understand the value of affiliate marketing to your business and the importance of maintaining trust with your customers and partners. The browser extension Honey, owned by PayPal, has been criticised for practices that can undermine affiliate programs and harm business reputation. In this article, we outline steps you can take to safeguard your affiliate program and ensure fairness for all stakeholders. Importantly, all these actions can be implemented with Trackdesk.

Why Take Action?

• Trust Violation: Poorly handled discounts and misleading claims can leave your customers feeling let down and questioning your brand.
• Weakened Affiliate Relationships: Affiliates may leave your program if their efforts are unfairly undermined by third-party tools.
• Revenue Losses: Unauthorized discounts and commission theft drain your profits and force you to make compensatory adjustments.

Understand the Risks of Honey

• Stealing Affiliate Commissions: Honey replaces legitimate affiliate cookies with its own, claiming referral credit for sales it didn’t drive.
• Discount Code Mismanagement: Honey’s platform can expose unauthorized codes or suppress better deals, confusing customers and eroding trust.
• Revenue Leaks: These practices can lead to unexpected revenue losses, potentially forcing businesses to raise prices and reducing customer satisfaction.

Actions to Protect Your Business and Affiliate Program

1. Audit Your Affiliate Program Regularly

• Monitor affiliate activity for suspicious patterns, such as unexpected spikes in referrals from Honey.
• Use Trackdesk’s comprehensive tracking features to identify cookie replacements and other unauthorised activities.

2. Communicate Clearly with Your Affiliates

• Keep affiliates informed about potential risks from third-party tools like Honey.
• Use Trackdesk’s affiliate management features to build trust, share updates, and address their concerns proactively.

3. Implement Secure Discount Code Strategies

• Ensure discount codes are distributed directly to your customers and affiliates, rather than relying on public platforms.
• Use dynamic codes or codes tied to specific campaigns to minimise misuse. Trackdesk allows you to track the performance of each code in detail.

4. Optimise Your Attribution Models

• Switch to attribution models that reward the first click or shared credit rather than the last click, which Honey often exploits.
• Trackdesk’s advanced attribution settings let you customise models to fit your business strategy.

5. Leverage Data Insights for Better Decisions

• Use analytics to identify revenue leaks caused by Honey and take action to prevent further losses.
• With Trackdesk, you can generate reports that highlight areas of concern and optimise your affiliate strategy.

6. Educate Your Customers

• Make your discount policies clear to customers, encouraging them to engage directly with your brand.
• Promote your value proposition so customers see the benefits of shopping directly rather than relying on browser extensions.

Conclusion