Google Chrome announced a policy update, restricting how browser extensions can engage with affiliate codes.
Google announced an update on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, that changes how extensions can interact with affiliate codes, effectively banning the behaviour of the controversial PayPal Honey extension.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Google (via Artem Russakovskii) stated that extensions cannot add “affiliate links, codes, or cookies” without “direct and transparent user benefit.”
Google said: “Affiliate links, codes, or cookies must only be included when the extension provides a direct and transparent user benefit related to the extension’s core functionality. It is not permitted to inject affiliate links without related user action and without providing a tangible benefit to users.”
1. Inserting affiliate links when no discount, cashback, or donation is provided.
2. An extension that continuously injects affiliate links in the background without related user action.
This directly targets the behaviour of PayPal’s Honey extension, which was exposed last year for hijacking affiliate codes.
Google’s policy update goes on to explain that extensions that add affiliates must do so following “related user action."
1. An extension that updates a shopping-related cookie without the user’s knowledge while the user is browsing shopping sites.
2. An extension that adds an affiliate code to the URL or replaces an existing affiliate code in the URL without the user’s explicit knowledge.
3. An extension that applies or replaces affiliate promo codes without the user’s explicit knowledge or related user action.
This new update helps manage a healthy web ecosystem by ensuring that affiliate monetisation is aligned with user benefit.
