Everything I know about extensions, agents and what's next
Short notes by email from Doug, Benson's founder: how coupon extensions and AI shopping agents work on your checkout, where your codes go, who gets paid, and what to do about each of them.
Short notes from Doug by email. Unsubscribe any time.
What the notes cover. One idea a note, with what to do about it.
- 1
How coupon extensions find your checkout
What Honey, Capital One Shopping and the rest do between your shopper and the order.
- 2
Where your discount codes go
How a code you made for one person reaches every checkout, and how to stop it.
- 3
Who gets paid for your sale
Last click, commission, and the extensions that take credit for orders you already had.
- 4
AI shopping agents are already shopping
What agents read on your store, how they treat your codes, and what to set first.
- 5
Before your next big sale
Code freezes, and the plays that protect your margin when the traffic peaks.
- 6
And what comes next
New extensions and new agents as they show up. Reply to any note and I'll answer.
From Doug
I started in affiliate marketing, on a voucher site's paid search team, where I watched coupon extensions take commission meant for the affiliates who earned it. I've been building tools against it since. These notes are what I'd tell you over a coffee.
Doug SilkstoneFounder of Benson
Start here. Read these in order, or jump to what's costing you most.
- Browse the directory
Every coupon extension, explained
What Honey, Capital One Shopping, Rakuten and the rest do on your store, where they get your codes and how they get paid.
- Read the playbook
Leaked codes: find them, contain them
Trace a leaked code back to where it came from, retire it, and stop the next one.
- Read the article
The coupon extension scandal: what it cost merchants
Creators sued Honey, but merchants paid the commission and the leaked codes. Where it stands, and how to check your store.
- Read the article
What AI shopping agents do to your codes
Agents in ChatGPT, Google and Copilot now find, test and apply discount codes. What breaks, and what to set before peak.
- Read the article
Shared, unique or single-use codes?
Which code each channel should get, how each type leaks, and what a leak costs you.
- Get the playbook
Discount Extensions 101: The BFCM Playbook
How coupon extensions work, what they cost an online store in peak season, and what you can do about it.
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