[ketau]

Probably too complex to explain here but tldr; every cash back program is built on top of the affiliate marketing rails since Ebates started it in 1998. Same for coupon websites since those came along.

It is a system design flaw (that maybe will self correct because of this) that multiple advertising models at different points in the value chain are built on the same system. 'Multi-touch' or 'any-click' are the correct direction to solve this problem but introduce their own challenges for retailers which is why most of them have not adopted these systems yet.

You ask "what exactly is Honey doing here?"

Short answer is helping the retailer with conversion and limiting cart abandonment by making the user happy and more likely to transact.

[ysavir]

I feel like you avoided the substance of my question. Does Honey's intervention negatively impact the original affiliate in any way?