honey, we're being sued.

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• US President-elect Donald Trump doubled down on his support for TikTok, as the app prepares to argue against an impending ban before the Supreme Court on Jan 10th.

• Honey is committing advertising fraud, according to investigative creator MegaLag, who has accused the web browser extension of repeatedly stealing money from the consumer and influencers. The video has racked up over 15 million views on YouTube and now LegalEagle and Wendover Productions are suing PayPal, the owner of Honey.

• Hailey Welch, famously (or infamously) known as the Hawk Tuah Girl, has addressed her memecoin controversy and says she’s “co-operating with lawyers”.

• Cody Ko returns to YouTube following allegations that he had sex with influencer Tana Mongeau when she was underage.

• Jan 1st 2025 means Gen Beta is popping onto the scene as the kids who will live in a world dominated by virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Still, as expected, experts are worried creativity and interpersonal skills won’t be Gen Beta’s strongest skill.

I love Honey.

Can you blame me?

I love a good discount.

I’ve used it to snag deals on those New Balance sneakers. But like many of us, I figured there was a trade-off: my data in exchange for savings.

I didn’t expect the recent allegations about Honey and its parent company, PayPal, regarding potential consumer fraud.

YouTuber MegaLag recently broke this story, sparking a heated discussion about the fragile business of affiliate links and trust in popular browser extensions.

Yeah, come to think of it, it’s a bit weird these can exist on the internet.

Honey has always been creator-forward in its sponsorships.

Remember that time on YouTube when it felt like everyone was sponsored by Honey?

As an early adopter, they’ve gone on to partner with big names like MrBeast, Emma Chamberlain, and Tech creator MKBHD.

According to MKBHD, they paid creators well, making people want to work with them more.

So, what exactly is Honey being accused of?

This is what MegaLag alleges:

• Is Honey poaching creator affiliate links? By clicking on a creator’s affiliate link (promotes, refers, earns a commission on sale), MegaLag says Honey will poach the cookie tracker as soon as you click on the extension’s orange “activate” button…even if it can’t find you a discount code!

  Why is this bad?

  The creator who got you to buy a product doesn’t receive any kickback for their efforts or association with the product. Honey gets to take advantage of the sale.

• Thought you received the best possible discount on a product?

  Well, according to MegaLag, Honey is intentionally withholding coupon codes from you, the customer, for its own financial gain.

  How?

  A business can pay Honey to sign up to its business program, allowing it to withhold coupon codes from its customers.

  Could this raise legal questions? Honey claims it can find you the best discount online.

It looks like MegaLag has more videos to follow.

As a result, creators like LegalEagle and Wendover Productions have filed a class-action lawsuit against PayPal over the affiliate practices of its Honey browser extension.

So.

As of today…I’ve stopped loving Honey.

I’ve uninstalled it from my web browser and won’t be using similar products anytime soon.

META 

• plans to introduce AI-generated users on Facebook.

• affiliate links on Facebook “will now be more prominently displayed” on Reels, videos, photos, and text posts.

Threads 

• is rolling out an easier way to reshare photos and videos from posts you see on the platform while crediting them to the original poster.

YouTube

• is cracking down on clickbait content that doesn’t deliver on the video’s title or thumbnail (this isn’t anything new. I guess they’re double cracking down?)

LinkedIn

• Video posts get 1.4 times as much engagement on average as other posts.

READ: Will video kill the audio star in 2025? Podcasting has entered a new era, and things are getting interesting. Spotify video will apply pressure on YouTube to level up the competition in the video pod space. I see this as only benefiting podcasters.

LISTEN: I’ve been consuming some super sweet sugar this holiday, so don’t be surprised by what I’m about to recommend to you. A podcast titled Infamous did an episode on Martha Stewart and the journalist Andrea Peyser, who she exclaimed in her Netflix doc was dead. The journo is, in fact, not dead, but why did Martha Stewart say this? Infamous speaks to Peyser about it and dives into Stewart’s scandalous life.

WATCH: “Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam” shines a light on the weird and fragile business of attribution links that so many creators rely on, and MegaLag does a great job of exposing this. You can also watch LegalEagle’s video explaining why creators need to rally together for better protection regarding affiliate links.

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