Why do I feel like mentioning the LTT was very personal?π
this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2024
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They're one of the largest tech media companies and deliberately chose to sweep this under the rug instead of reporting on it. Then they took sponsorships from Karma, which is a competitor to Honey that does the exact same thing.
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I haven't trusted LTT for about 5 years now.
Ever since it was explained that Mr. Beast only smiles with his mouth, I get skeeved out every time I see him.
Shit! You are right. Thats horrible. And explains why he freaks me out.
Mr Beast literally shadow banned the word teeth from his YT comments. It's hilarious.
It's a shame too, I really miss all the great tooth related discussions we used to have there.
Oh... THAT's what's off!
Just saw a video that the honey people are making another SCAM called PIE. They make an Ad blocker, then put their own ads. wtf.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VTxnM3J0I0k?width=828&height=466
Just open their privacy policy and done. They sell your browsing info, and you could stop it there
I'm so proud I never consumed these guys shit
Was it all that surprising to you though?
By the time honey hit the scene we had been ten years into "sketchy Browser extension that monitors your browsing habits and injects ads"
I guess getting flogged by your favorite influencer ads a veneer of legitimacy for a lot of people.
I think what was truly surprising is that they were bought for 4 billion.That much money for... basically an out and out scam. Paypal is that sure that it's:
-
entirely legal
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Will never be stopped
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will return on a 4 billion investment.
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I never trust browser extensions outside of a select few. However, I have used Paypal quite a bit. I would think many of us have.
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If something advertises on youtube itβs a scam. Simple to remember really.
I don't mind things that are an actual thing to buy. I want to research it first--you can get a better electric razor than Manscaped for not much more--but at least it's clear how they make their money. Honey was obviously getting money from someone other than their users, and that's an immediate red flag.
Yeah. PayPal bought a coupon browser extension for how much? If the only thing they do is save YOU money, how come they can afford a sponsored segment in a mr beast video?
I and many other people naturally assumed that honey was getting their money from consumer data collection. Which is why I didn't use the service myself. The surprise is the fact that the scam isn't just consumer data collection but actually stealing commissions from content creators as well as using consumers as a gateway to stealing money from businesses that they have contracts with.
This isn't even remotely true. There are lots of advertisers and sponsors that aren't scams. But unfortunately our consumer protection laws haven't quite caught up to the digital marketplace. So there is a lot of room on the internet in general for scammy behavior.
As always, it's buyer beware. As well as a big amount of content creator beware as well.
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Wait, when did Paypal buy Honey? π³
2020 for $4 billion.
And Honey has always worked like this. So PayPal knew exactly what they were buying which explains the price tag. Paypal knew they were going to make their money back and then some.
Ltt didn't hide shit, they posted it on a public forum
If only they had some medium to post the information, perhaps a medium that that VAST MAJORITY of their viewers use.
βBut the plans were on displayβ¦β
βOn display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.β
βThatβs the display department.β
βWith a flashlight.β
βAh, well, the lights had probably gone.β
βSo had the stairs.β
βBut look, you found the notice, didnβt you?β
βYes,β said Arthur, βyes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying βBeware of the Leopard.β
They didn't hide it, but a huge portion of their audience doesn't read the forums. A 10 minute video of Linus ranting about them would have opened this scandal to a wider audience years ago.
And then they took sponsorships from Karma which does the exact same thing
Linus usually likes to rant about it on the WAN show then they usually make a clip for YouTube, but weird he didnβt do that for honey, maybe he didnβt know how far the scam went.
As creator that makes some of their profits from affiliate links, I don't see how that could be the case for him.
Seems more likely they had a reason to avoid beef with PayPal.
Could have a non disparagement clause in their former agreement
non disparagement clause
Not the level of a non-compete clause but that's a scummy thing I hope is not legal.
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Some very vocal people on Lemmy just love hating on LTT. I don't think this topic was worth them making a main channel video on, I think their forum post was good and I believe they even mentioned this functionality of Honey a few times on the WAN show. It wasn't a secret, and anyone who cared to do in-depth research on a potential sponsor could have found out.
I donβt think this topic was worth them making a main channel video on
Their viewers getting scammed by tech they promoted isn't worth a video on their main channel? If they could legally do it I think they should have.
Some very vocal people on Lemmy just love hating on LTT
LTT have made mistakes but the dunking here does seem disproportionate.
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Yeah, that not nothing but it isn't far off. They have a massive platform. It deserved at least a video telling people about it.
I said it in another post: if you see a bunch of influencers all suddenly peddling the same stuff, stay away. All of them can be bought.
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