Google reacts to questionable shopping Chrome extensions
Google has updated its policies for Chrome extensions following a controversy over the Honey extension. The extension, from PayPal, has been accused by creators of misappropriating affiliate links without its users' knowledge, and Google now specifies that similar extensions are not permitted on its Chrome Web Store.
The issue regarding Honey came to light in December 2024, when YouTubers accused the extension of being a scam. The extension claimed to search through discount codes and automatically apply them to user's shopping baskets across many different websites. However, it has been accused of injecting its own affiliate links into users' purchases without their knowledge, taking revenue from content creators who also use affiliate links. In an ironic twist, this likely negatively affected the same tech influencers that Honey paid to promote its extension.
Now, Google has updated its Chrome extension policy to clarify that isn't allowed. '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,' Google wrote.
To make it extra clear, Google also listed out the kinds of violations that would be forbidden, including 'An extension that updates a shopping-related cookie without the user's knowledge while the user is browsing shopping sites,' '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,' and 'An extension that applies or replaces affiliate promo codes without the user's explicit knowledge or related user action.'
However, at time of writing, the Honey extension is still available for download in the Chrome Web Store. It's not yet clear if Honey has updated its extension to comply with the policy or whether it will have to make changes to remain on the Web Store.
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