In Summary. Posted:. 5:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time, July 10, 2026. A shopping startup named Phia, co-founded by Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, has been accused of engaging in a practice called “cookie stuffing.” This practice allegedly enabled the product to earn commissions and credit for sales it did not genuinely generate, as revealed by a Bloomberg investigation. The report has caused a stir and resulted in Phia being suspended from Impact. a top affiliate and influencer platform. Other startups have faced legal action due to “cookie stuffing,” such as Honey, which is owned by PayPal and is currently involved in an ongoing class action lawsuit. Phia, established in 2025, has acquired over $40 million in financial support and boasts a prestigious lineup of investors, including Khloé Kardashian and Hailey Bieber. The company created an application that functions similarly to Google Flights but for shopping purposes, and it can be used as a browser extension. Phia assists customers in locating the most affordable products from different stores and also provides discount coupons to utilize during purchases. The organization charges a fee on transactions completed via the platform, which is called affiliate marketing in the industry. An investigation by Bloomberg and separate findings from an independent consultant and a rival discovered that when a user visited an online store, irrespective of whether they arrived there independently or through another affiliate scheme such as Wirecutter, Phia would open a new tab covertly.
Phia accused of ‘cookie stuffing,’ taking affiliate credit on purchases it didn’t earn
- by stefan