by Lucas Nolan, Breitbart:
Phia, a shopping assistance startup co-founded by Bill Gates’ youngest daughter Phoebe, has been accused of improperly claiming credit for online sales it did not generate, according to testing conducted by multiple organizations and independent researchers.
Bloomberg reports that a browser extension created by Phia, an advertising startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has been found to claim commissions for sales it did not actually influence, violating policies across multiple digital platforms. The company markets itself as a personal shopping assistant that helps users locate the lowest prices on clothing and fashion accessories.
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According to Ben Edelman, an independent researcher and consultant specializing in affiliate marketing, along with Capital One Shopping, which operates a competing browser extension, Phia engaged in practices that violate many digital platforms’ policies. Testing conducted by Bloomberg across more than 50 websites revealed that during the checkout process, Phia’s mobile browser extension opened a background tab without user interaction and inserted its own referral code, overriding legitimate referrals from other publishers.
The findings from Bloomberg’s testing aligned with independent testing and code review performed by both Capital One Shopping and Edelman. The testing methodology involved using the extension as a regular shopper would and observing its communications with other sites and its own servers.
Edelman, who has spent decades investigating what he describes as deceptive practices in digital advertising, explained the primary problem with Phia’s approach. “The most fundamental requirement in affiliate marketing is that commission is only paid if a user clicks,” said Edelman. “The rules don’t allow fake clicks, simulated clicks, imaginary clicks or hypothetical clicks. Only a real click will do.”
Capital One Shopping sent an email to retailers on Tuesday highlighting similar findings from its own testing, raising concerns about what it characterized as Phia’s fake clicks or cookie stuffing. The email included videos purportedly showing Phia’s extension silently opening a background tab linking the retailer’s website with its own affiliate code to ensure its cookie was set. “Publishers like us are having material revenue taken,” the email stated. “And advertisers like you are losing money to fake clicks.”
