Google Has Been Forced To Change Chrome Extensions Rules: Here’s The Reason

Last Updated:March 13, 2025, 10:15 IST

Google has thousands of Chrome extensions available for users but a popular version was duping people which made he company take stern action.

Google is changing these rules for Chrome extensions and rightly so.

Google Chrome extensions have helped billions over the years as it allows them to integrate tools to the web browser that are usually not available on it. Extensions can range from ad blockers, to speed tracker or more. But now the company has been forced to change its rules for third-party extensions on Chrome and people really need to know the reason for these revisions and what it means for them.

Chrome Extension Rules Change: All Because Of The ‘Honey’ Link Scam

Google generally doesn’t make changes unless and until the need is pivotal and the new rules are being brought on because of the misuse of its existing policies. PayPal’s Honey extension is the culprit for this change, and mostly because it was taking advantage of the current rules and managed to sneak in some of its own changes to benefit its users.

The Honey extension was accused of taking money through sources who were being paid by the developer itself. Basically they managed to change the link in its extension, which meant the money, people thought was going to the affiliates, was actually going to its pockets.

Google has acted on these malpractices with the rules and decided that extensions need to come included with the affiliate links and not allowed to inject their own links in the background which becomes hard for the Google team to monitor.

Extensions are usually straight with their policies and rules but the Honey scam has clearly got Google’s attention, so much that a complete revision of the rule was necessary to stop other developers from misusing this loophole. It is likely that most people might not have realised the change from Honey because these links are not visible at the front end but it is good to have Google make this change to make sure people don’t get duped in the future.

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News tech Google Has Been Forced To Change Chrome Extensions Rules: Here’s The Reason