Honey (App)

Submission 3,943

About

Honey is a browser extension designed for locating coupon codes for online retail. The extension scours the internet for coupon codes based on the website the user is visiting.

History

In October 2012, co-founders Ryan Hudson and George Ruan launched the browser extension.^[1] Within five years, the extension had been downloaded 5 million times on Chrome, Safari and Firefox. That year, the LA Times^[2] reported that the company had saved users $170 million in throughout 2017. The company, at this point, had raised more than $40 million.

Two years later, in November 2019, PayPal acquired Honey for $4 billion.^[3]^[4]

"Honey is amongst the most transformative acquisitions in PayPal's history," said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, in a statement. "It provides a broad portfolio of services to simplify the consumer shopping experience, while at the same time making it more affordable and rewarding"

Features

Honey is a browser extension downloaded through Extension marketplaces on various internet browsers. When visiting an online retailer, users click the extenion, which then searches for and applies coupon codes for more than 40,000 websites.^[5] The extension rewards usage by giving users "Honey Gold," which can be redeemed for gift cards.

Other features on the extnesion include price history, so users can see how the price of a product has changed over time; "Droplist," which lets users track prices on specific products; and price comparisons.

Highlights

Allegations of Security Risk

On December 20th, 2019, Politico editor Ryan Hutchins tweeted, "Amazon is telling shoppers that the browser extension Honey -- it gives you coupon codes and other ways to save -- is malware. Paypal bought Honey in November for $4 billion. That’s one extensive piece of Malware." The warning reads:

Honey's browser extension is a security risk. Honey tracks your private shopping behavior, collects data like your order history and items saved, and can read or change any of your data on any website you visit. o keep your data private and secure, uninstall this extension immediately.

In response, a Honey spokesperson told Wired,^[6] "We only use data in ways that directly benefit Honey members -- helping people save money and time -- and in ways they would expect. Our commitment is clearly spelled out in our privacy and security policy."

The spokesperson continued to defend the extension's security, stating that the app makes money by charging website a percentage on sales made with coupons.

They believe that the controversy stems from the extension's Droplist feature, which the warning forced Honey to suspend.

"We’re aware that Droplist and other Honey features were not available on Amazon for a period of time. We know these are tools that people love and worked quickly to restore the functionality. Our extension is not – and has never been – a security risk and is safe to use."