{"id":6959,"date":"2025-01-20T21:38:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/?p=6959"},"modified":"2025-01-20T21:38:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:38:29","slug":"controversy-surrounds-honey-and-last-click-attribution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/2025\/01\/controversy-surrounds-honey-and-last-click-attribution\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversy Surrounds Honey and Last-Click Attribution"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time : <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The recent lawsuits against Honey and Capital One have exposed the contentious use of last-click attribution, a practice that allows these companies to claim credit for driving sales by replacing creator affiliate links with their own. While legal experts debate the fairness of this tactic, creators argue it undermines their earnings and distorts the data brands use to assess their impact.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6962\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z2-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z2-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z2-2-600x354.png 600w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z2-2-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z2-2-768x453.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Creators depend on accurate metrics to secure sponsorships, and practices like link swapping erode trust within the ecosystem. Prominent YouTubers such as Marques Brownlee and Hank Green have publicly denounced Honey\u2019s practices, with many pledging to avoid future collaborations. For creators, this issue is less about legality and more about the integrity of partnerships and fair compensation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6963\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z3-4.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1096\" height=\"797\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z3-4.webp 1096w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z3-4-600x436.webp 600w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z3-4-300x218.webp 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z3-4-1024x745.webp 1024w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z3-4-768x558.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1096px) 100vw, 1096px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Honey and Capital One defend their actions, labeling last-click attribution as a widely accepted industry standard. PayPal, Honey\u2019s parent company, asserts that these tactics help reduce cart abandonment and increase conversions. However, critics argue that such practices create an uneven playing field, favoring corporations over individuals, and leave smaller affiliates at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6964\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z4-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z4-14.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z4-14-600x300.jpg 600w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z4-14-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/z4-14-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Regardless of the lawsuits\u2019 outcomes, this controversy has sparked critical conversations about the ethics of ad-tech practices. As the influencer economy continues to grow, clearer standards for attribution and transparency are essential. Without them, trust between creators, brands, and audiences will remain fragile, and companies risk alienating the very people who drive their success.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5125\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5125\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5125\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Ben-footer-mar2024-1000.png\" alt=\"B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Lin \u2013 Brussels, Paris, London, Seoul, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Taipei, Hong Kong\" width=\"1000\" height=\"379\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Ben-footer-mar2024-1000.png 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Ben-footer-mar2024-1000-600x227.png 600w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Ben-footer-mar2024-1000-300x114.png 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Ben-footer-mar2024-1000-768x291.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5125\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Lin \u2013 Brussels, Paris, London, Seoul, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Taipei, Hong Kong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">#Honey #LastClickAttribution #InfluencerMarketing #AffiliateMarketing #BusinessEthics #AdTech #Creators<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time : <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>The lawsuits against Honey and Capital One highlight concerns over last-click attribution. Critics claim it unfairly replaces creator affiliate links, impacting earnings and trust. While the companies defend it as industry standard, creators call for transparency and fairness, reshaping ad-tech ethics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,14,374,30,194,67],"tags":[397,19,27,15,32,165,4,44],"class_list":["post-6959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-branding","category-e-commerce","category-economy","category-entreprise-strategy","category-finance","category-wealthytalks","tag-397","tag-benedicte","tag-branding","tag-e-commerce","tag-entreprise-strategy","tag-finance","tag-gout-design","tag-shopping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6959"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6966,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6959\/revisions\/6966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}