Affiliate hijacking
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In short
When an extension or publisher adds its own affiliate click late in a visit another partner referred, so the commission moves to it.
What it means
Affiliate hijacking is taking credit for a sale another partner referred by adding a later affiliate click, usually at the cart or checkout, so last-click attribution moves the commission. When the shopper never clicks at all, the same result is called cookie stuffing. In December 2024, YouTuber MegaLag alleged that PayPal's Honey extension took the last click and commission on sales other partners sent.[MegaLag (YouTube), Dec 2024] (opens the source) PayPal disputed the claims and said Honey follows industry rules, including last-click attribution.[TechCrunch, Jan 2025] (opens the source)
On your store
A shopper clicks a creator's link, then at checkout their extension offers savings. They click, the extension opens its affiliate link, and the network credits the order to the extension instead of the creator.
Why it matters
You pay commission to a partner that didn't send the sale, and the partner who did goes unpaid, which wears down the creator and content programs you rely on. Rakuten Advertising removed Honey from its network on 12 January 2026.[PPC Land, Jan 2026] (opens the source) Within nine days impact.com suspended it and Awin suspended its payments.[PPC Land, Jan 2026] (opens the source)
What Benson does
Attribution integrity flags orders where an extension's affiliate click landed after the shopper arrived from another referrer.
Sources
- 1MegaLag (YouTube), “Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam”, Dec 2024. youtube.com (opens the source)
- 2TechCrunch, “YouTuber LegalEagle sues PayPal over 'sleeping leech' Honey extension”, Jan 2025. techcrunch.com (opens the source)
- 3PPC Land, “Honey loses access to 2,000 clients after Rakuten network termination”, Jan 2026. ppc.land (opens the source)
- 4PPC Land, “Awin confirms Honey violated affiliate policies, suspends payments”, Jan 2026. ppc.land (opens the source)
Read next
Related terms
- Stand-downA rule that a coupon or cashback extension stays quiet when another affiliate already referred the shopper, so it doesn't take the commission.
- Last-click attributionA crediting rule that gives the whole sale, and the whole commission, to the last affiliate whose link the shopper clicked before buying.
- Cookie stuffingSetting an affiliate's tracking cookie without the shopper clicking that affiliate's link, so it gets credit and commission for a sale it didn't refer.
- Creator codeA discount code issued to one creator for their audience, which also credits that creator with the sale and usually their commission.
