Not every week do you see a major affiliate publisher removed from top U.S. affiliate networks<\/a>. This was such a week. Remember Honey<\/a>, which was acquired by PayPal for $4B<\/a> six years ago? Well, as of the time of this post, after MegaLag\u2019s video<\/a> and Ben Edelman\u2019s investigation<\/a>, PayPal Honey has already been removed from America\u2019s two major affiliate marketing environments: Rakuten Advertising<\/a> and impact.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Monday, January 12, Rakuten Advertising announced that Honey was \u201cterminated from the network,\u201d alluding to this termination as a step required \u201cto maintain a high standard of quality\u201d in the network:<\/p>\n On Friday, January 16, we learned that Honey was found to be \u201cout of compliance\u201d with impact.com\u2019s \u201cplatform policies\u201d and was \u201cremoved\u201d from their \u201cDiscovery Marketplace\u201d:<\/p>\n As the above image shows, though, impact.com\u2019s is a temporary suspension, rather than a complete removal from the platform.<\/p>\n It is clear, however, that the grounds for both removals were noncompliance with network policies and engaging in behavior that undermines trust in the partnership economy, as impact.com\u2019s CEO put it. The latter also explicitly called out \u201cattribution manipulation\u201d as the cause leading to PayPal Honey\u2019s suspension.<\/p>\n Coincidentally, or not, the first of the two removals occurred on the first day of the largest U.S. affiliate conference, Affiliate Summit<\/a>, which we attended<\/a> as we do every year. \u201cRakuten\u201d and \u201cHoney\u201d were certainly the words of the day that Monday: both at Affiliate Summit West and all over social media.<\/p>\n With the situation having so many interesting facets \u2014 from the perfect timing of the first suspension (excellent PR play, no doubt) to the well-overdue network-level tackling of conversion misattribution due to affiliate noncompliance \u2014 I want to look at this case as an affiliate manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here, at AM Navigator<\/a>, we believe that there are five important lessons to learn from this, and all of these should help people manage affiliate programs<\/a>\u00a0better.<\/p>\n No, not in the same way that one bad apple spoils the bunch. Normally, a good affiliate in the program does not get spoiled by a bad one (though we\u2019ve seen cases where this does happen). The program largely suffers because many of the good affiliates that you want to work with won\u2019t even bother partnering with you after seeing that you work with the players with whom they just can\u2019t coexist.<\/p>\n Honey specifically got terminated for affiliate link hijacking and concealed violation of \u201cstand-down\u201d rules, which mandate that browser extensions \u201cstand down\u201d and not fire if there was another affiliate earlier in the clickstream. The reason? Not to overwrite the previous affiliate\u2019s cookie, taking credit for the conversion.<\/p>\n Prior to joining your affiliate program, savvy, rule-abiding affiliates will check who else you\u2019re partnered with. They will use the same policing tools that we, affiliate managers, use. In those programs where they see affiliates who are known for doing everything possible to drop the last cookie, they will often just not join (or won\u2019t actively promote if they\u2019ve already joined). One rule-violating affiliate always makes all other affiliates in your program suffer.<\/p>\n First off, make sure to spell out your affiliate rules in your affiliate program agreement<\/a> or Terms and Conditions (Ts & Cs).<\/p>\n Secondly, understand that having the Ts & Cs in place won\u2019t safeguard you from violations of these. However, while having these rules in place does not guarantee<\/em> that affiliates will play by them, you now have the grounds to police and enforce affiliate compliance with them. Affiliates agree to play by your rules when applying to your program. Once you\u2019ve approved them, you have the right to enforce the rules they\u2019ve agreed to.<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0your<\/em> brand and\u00a0your\u00a0<\/em>business that is at stake here. So, make your own policing and enforcing a priority.<\/p>\n Honey was terminated\/suspended \u201cfor the intentional stand-down violations and concealment<\/a>,\u201d but what are these, exactly, and do all browser extensions automatically do these? I\u2019ve explained what \u201cstand-down\u201d means above, but there\u2019s a lot more written about it online. The point I want to drive home is: when monitoring your affiliates\u2019 activity, make sure you fully understand all the relevant intricacies and details. Only then will you be able to police in an intelligent way.<\/p>\n Speaking of Downloadable Software Publishers (DSPs), I recommend studying and bookmarking this excellent comparison by our friends at the Performance Marketing Association: Affiliate Network DSP Policies Comparison<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n As mentioned above, though, whatever network policies say, do not<\/em> rely on networks for policing. Our experience shows that way too often, affiliate violations occur for much longer than it takes an affiliate network to take the violating affiliate down from the network. You don\u2019t need to have them removed from\/by the network to stop hurting your affiliate program, though. You can do it on your program level at any time.<\/p>\n Just as not all paid search affiliates engage in prohibited trademark bidding<\/a>, neither do all browser extensions violate stand-down rules.<\/p>\n Over the many years of managing affiliate programs, I\u2019ve seen multiple cases where whole classes (or types) of affiliates would be banned from the program. In some cases, loyalty affiliates would be put into the same bucket as coupon-oriented websites, and automatically declined from joining an affiliate program. In others, all browser extensions would be treated the same. In yet others, solutions for bringing rewards to closed user groups (e.g., Loyalize<\/a>) would be equated to consumer-oriented cashback websites and treated the same.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it\u2019s your affiliate program, and it\u2019s up to you how to run it. Building on lesson #3, I urge you to pay attention to details, and evaluate every affiliate individually \u2014 without extrapolations or generalizations that often do a disservice to the ultimate development of affiliate programs.<\/p>\n Finally, and probably most importantly, if your affiliate program is seeing a substantial drop in affiliate-referred revenue after Honey is gone, you\u2019ve been doing it all wrong. In my Successful Affiliate Programs Keep Failure in Mind<\/em><\/a> article, among the final questions, I asked:<\/p>\n Are you committed to diversifying your affiliate base or are you putting all eggs in one basket, focusing only on one or two types of affiliates?<\/em><\/p>\n One of the most frequent problems that we observe while auditing affiliate programs is<\/em> the all-eggs-in-one-basket situation. Not only are 80% or more of all affiliate-driven sales driven by a handful of affiliates, but 50% or more of these affiliates belong to the same affiliate type!<\/p>\n Affinity groups For your convenience, the above checkboxes can be easily checked \u2014 so that you could then print the list out, and immediately see the affiliate types you\u2019re still missing and need to go after.<\/p>\n If you need help in auditing your affiliate program (to identify any bad apples or other improvement opportunities) or diversifying through affiliate recruitment<\/a>, we are here for you \u2014 just a phone call or a message away<\/a>. Let\u2019s build solid affiliate programs in 2026<\/a> and beyond!!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not every week do you see a major affiliate publisher removed from top U.S. affiliate networks. This was such a week. Remember Honey, which was acquired by PayPal for $4B six years ago? Well, as of the time of this post, after MegaLag\u2019s video and Ben Edelman\u2019s investigation, PayPal Honey has already been removed from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7031456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11761],"tags":[12735,8706,5200,11419,27820,13239],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7031455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-affiliate-marketing","tag-affiliate","tag-honey","tag-lessons","tag-managers","tag-paypal","tag-program"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amnavigator.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/honey-rakuten-advertising.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amnavigator.gumlet.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/honey-impactcom-1.jpg?compress=true\"\/)
<\/p>\n1. One Bad Apple Spoils the Entire Program<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amnavigator.gumlet.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/affiliate-marketing-rules.jpg?compress=true\"\/)
Most present-day affiliate programs operate on the last-touch-wins-all rule. This means that the entire compensation for the conversion goes to the last affiliate who touched the converted customer.<\/p>\n2. Do Your Own Policing. Don\u2019t Rely on Networks<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amnavigator.gumlet.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/affiliate-marketing-policing.jpg?compress=true\"\/)
Thirdly, and finally, if you run your program on an affiliate network, do not count on the network\u2019s compliance departments to do the policing for you. On the one hand, affiliate network compliance teams monitor for violations of a network\u2019s<\/em> rules and policies (not your program\u2019s), and on the other hand, throughout my decades of managing affiliate programs, more than once have I seen networks look the other way.<\/p>\n3. Take Time to Understand the Details<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amnavigator.gumlet.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/APMA-attribution-audit.jpg?compress=true\"\/)
Additionally, a relevant study was recently performed by The Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (APMA) in the UK. In essence, they carried out an independent audit of thirty brands across ten affiliate networks and three different affiliate types. APMA anonymized the data and outcomes but made the information available to networks and platforms in advance. They also covered a distinction between the different types of technologies in place (specifically, stand-down rules vs \u201csoft click\u201d). The resulting APMA study both demonstrated the complexity of this issue, and provided seven recommendations for industry. It doesn\u2019t cost anything to get your copy of this 24-page audit here: Independent Audit of Attribution Rules in the UK Affiliate & Partner Marketing Industry<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n4. Don\u2019t Extrapolate and Don\u2019t Generalize<\/strong><\/h2>\n
5. Diversify Your Affiliate Base<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/amnavigator.gumlet.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/diversify-affiliate-recruitment.jpg?compress=true\"\/)
Over ten years ago, I suggested 18 types of affiliates<\/a> to consider for each affiliate program. Today, I\u2019d like to give you a more expanded list and suggest 28 affiliate types for you to explore while diversifying your affiliate base:<\/p>\n
Card-linked offers
\u00a0Charities and fundraisers
Content producers
Complementary brands
Co-registration affiliates
\u00a0Coupons and deals
Connected TV (CTV)
Consultants and service providers
\u00a0Datafeed-driven websites
\u00a0Domainers
Educators
\u00a0Email marketers
Existing customers and brand advocates
Loyalty affiliates: both D2C websites and CUG (closed user group) solutions
Mass media opportunities
Mobile-oriented affiliates
Online communities and forums
Paid search affiliates
Pay-per-call publishers
Podcasters
Post-checkout solutions
Ranking and review sites
Retargeting and cart abandonment solutions
Social media influencers
Sub-affiliate networks
Software\/extensions
Video marketers<\/p>\n