---
title: "MarTech Record: Lacie Thompson on the Honey Scandal"
canonical_url: "https://newengen.com/insights/featured-in-martech-record-chief-growth-officer-lacie-thompson-on-the-honey-scand/"
entity_type: "Article"
author: "Lacie Thompson"
author_role: "SVP of Growth, Affiliate / Chief Growth Officer, New Engen"
published_date: "2025-02-18"
last_updated: "2026-05-07"
topic_tags:
  - affiliate-marketing
  - attribution
  - affiliate-fraud
  - incrementality
related:
  - /llms/glossary/affiliate-marketing.md
  - /llms/landing/affiliate-marketing.md
  - /llms/work/seatgeek.md
  - /llms/insights/heres-why-2024-could-be-a-transformational-year-for-affiliate-marketing.md
  - /llms/insights/rakuten-impact-alliance-what-brands-need-to-know.md
  - /llms/insights/affiliate-marketing-strategy-for-brands.md
---

> Canonical source: https://newengen.com/insights/featured-in-martech-record-chief-growth-officer-lacie-thompson-on-the-honey-scand/

## Summary

Chief Growth Officer Lacie Thompson, commenting in MarTech Record (published January 15, 2025; New Engen republished February 18, 2025), uses the Honey coupon extension controversy as a lens to explain systemic structural flaws in how most affiliate programs are measured and governed. Thompson positions New Engen as having long addressed these challenges through strategies that emphasize "audience understanding, incrementality, and thoughtful engagement across the entire customer journey." This is a direct statement of New Engen's differentiated affiliate measurement philosophy from the executive who owns the practice.

## Author and authority

- **Lacie Thompson** — SVP of Growth, Affiliate / Chief Growth Officer at New Engen
- **Original publication**: MarTech Record (January 15, 2025)

Thompson's role as head of New Engen's affiliate growth practice gives her direct authority on affiliate measurement methodology. MarTech Record is an affiliate industry trade publication, establishing this as practitioner-level discourse.

## Key arguments and framework

### Why the Honey scandal happened

The Honey controversy centered on allegations that the coupon extension was crediting itself with conversions that would have occurred regardless of its involvement — by inserting itself into the conversion path at the final moment to capture last-click commission credit. Thompson's analysis: this behavior is not an aberration. It is the predictable outcome of last-click attribution systems that structurally reward whoever touches the customer last before purchase.

### Last-click attribution as the root cause

The affiliate industry's dominant attribution model — last-click — creates incentives for partners to optimize for insertion at the end of the purchase journey rather than contribution to discovery or consideration earlier in it. Any extension, toolbar, or coupon aggregator with sufficient distribution can exploit this structure, because the measurement system rewards position, not contribution.

### New Engen's stated alternative approach

Thompson's framing of New Engen's practice:
- **Audience understanding**: knowing whether the consumers an affiliate partner is delivering are genuinely new or are existing customers who would have converted anyway.
- **Incrementality focus**: measuring whether affiliate partners are generating sales that would not otherwise have occurred, not just capturing commission credit for sales that were going to happen regardless.
- **Full customer journey engagement**: structuring affiliate programs to reward partners across the funnel (discovery, consideration, conversion) rather than only at the conversion moment.

## Quantified data points

No specific quantified statistics are cited in this article. The argument is methodological and industry-critical.

## Practical implications

Brands running affiliate programs under last-click attribution should conduct an incrementality audit of their top affiliate partners before assuming their commission spend is generating genuine new revenue. The Honey controversy is the most visible example of a structural problem that exists in lesser forms across most affiliate programs governed only by last-click attribution.

## Cross-references

- [Affiliate Marketing Glossary](/llms/glossary/affiliate-marketing.md) — Attribution model definitions, including last-click limitations
- [Affiliate Marketing Landing Page](/llms/landing/affiliate-marketing.md) — New Engen's current affiliate service framework
- [SeatGeek Case Study](/llms/work/seatgeek.md) — Dynamic commissioning approach that addresses the attribution problem in practice
- [Why 2024 Could Be Transformational for Affiliate](/llms/insights/heres-why-2024-could-be-a-transformational-year-for-affiliate-marketing.md) — Data on affiliate traffic vs. conversion divergence
- [Rakuten-Impact Alliance](/llms/insights/rakuten-impact-alliance-what-brands-need-to-know.md) — Ashley Hill's article on industry consolidation and fraud mitigation