One coupon browser extension publisher may have found a way to resolve a legal dispute over the sales commissions it earns that others say rightfully belong to them.
It’s pulling the plug on its coupon code finder altogether.
Microsoft has quietly informed users of changes to its Microsoft Shopping feature, due to take effect at the end of this week. “Coupons will be discontinued on May 31st,” a pop-up window reads for those who use the browser extension on Microsoft’s Edge browser. “To simplify our shopping offering, we are discontinuing the Coupons feature in Edge. We will continue to help users shop with confidence through features like Cashback, Price Comparison and Price History.”
The Google Chrome version of the browser extension, which was active as recently as a few weeks ago, is no longer available on the Chrome Web Store.
The changes come just a few months after several online content creators sued Microsoft, for allegedly using its shopping extension to “take millions of dollars in referral commissions that it did not earn” out of the plaintiffs’ pockets.
A half dozen influencers with accounts on YouTube and other social media sites say they regularly recommend products to their followers, for which they earn a sales commission if those followers ultimately make a purchase. But “Microsoft programmed the Microsoft Shopping browser extension to operate behind the scenes to affect any and all affiliate codes during the checkout process and to redirect commissions to itself,” their now-consolidated lawsuit claims. Any time a user clicks on the extension’s pop-up window to search for coupons, Microsoft becomes the referrer and earns any commission for a sale.
Microsoft Shopping is particularly nefarious, the plaintiffs claim, because it “comes pre-loaded on Microsoft’s Edge browser, which is the default internet browser on every Windows PC.” Microsoft introduced the coupon-finding feature back in 2020, promising to make shopping and saving simple and seamless. “The real magic is that it proactively surfaces these coupon codes when I’m ready to check out,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President Liat Ben-Zur explained. “All I have to do is copy and paste a code or have Edge auto-populate and try them all to determine which one will save me the most.”
“Through these practices, Microsoft Shopping deprives content creators of the revenue they have earned and on which many content creators depend to sustain their businesses,” the lawsuit against Microsoft claims.
That’s the same argument that dozens of other online influencers have made against several other online coupon code finders, including PayPal Honey, Capital One Shopping, RetailMeNot, Rakuten, Klarna and Ibotta.
When asked whether the decision to discontinue the coupon finder was related to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Microsoft would only “confirm that the message displayed within the Coupons feature on the Microsoft Shopping sidebar in Edge is accurate” and would not comment further.
The plaintiffs claim they’ve lost money to “Microsoft’s scheme to poach commissions” for years, and are seeking damages and restitution for those commissions, on behalf of themselves and any others similarly affected. So it’s unclear whether Microsoft’s decision to forego future commissions by discontinuing the coupon feature will be sufficient to satisfy the plaintiffs’ claims for prior losses. The lead attorney in the case did not respond to requests for comment about how Microsoft’s move may impact the case going forward.
It’s possible that Google, and not the litigation, may have been what ultimately forced Microsoft’s hand. The May 31st end date for Microsoft Shopping’s coupon feature comes just ten days before Google plans to begin enforcing a new policy for browser extensions. According to the new Chrome Web Store rules, an extension can only claim a commission when it “provides a direct and transparent user benefit” and not if “no discount, cashback, or donation is provided.” Violators will be “subject to removal from the Chrome Web Store.”
Microsoft has now taken that matter into its own hands. As for the lawsuit, it will go on, for now. And other coupon browser extension publishers-turned-defendants will likely be watching closely, to find out what happens next.
Image source: Microsoft
