Phia, the shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has come under scrutiny after a Bloomberg investigation alleged that its browser extension was improperly claiming affiliate commissions through a practice known as “cookie stuffing.”
The company has acknowledged a coding issue and says it has already fixed the problem. However, the allegations have reignited debate over affiliate marketing practices and how browser extensions earn commissions from online purchases.
What is Phia?
Launched in 2025 by Phoebe Gates and entrepreneur Sophia Kianni, Phia describes itself as a personal shopping assistant.
The browser extension helps shoppers compare prices across retailers, discover second-hand fashion items and automatically search for discount codes while users browse online stores.
The startup has raised $43.5 million from investors including Notable Capital, Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures, along with celebrity investors such as Sydney Sweeney, Khloe Kardashian, Hailey Bieber and former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg.
According to Appfigures estimates cited by Bloomberg, the app has been downloaded more than 1.2 million times over the past year.
What are the allegations against Phia?
According to Bloomberg, Phia’s browser extension was automatically inserting its own affiliate tracking code during the checkout process—even when users had not interacted with the extension.
Bloomberg tested the extension on more than 50 retail websites and found that it silently opened a background browser tab before completing purchases.
That background tab loaded Phia’s affiliate link, replacing referral codes from other publishers and enabling Phia to receive commissions for purchases it may not have influenced.
Independent affiliate marketing researcher Ben Edelman and Capital One Shopping reportedly reached similar conclusions after conducting separate tests.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a common online advertising model in which publishers, influencers, websites or browser extensions receive a commission for directing shoppers to retailers.
Each affiliate receives a unique tracking code.
If a shopper clicks an affiliate link and completes a purchase, the retailer pays that affiliate a commission.
The system is designed to reward businesses that genuinely influence purchasing decisions.
What is ‘cookie stuffing’?
Cookie stuffing refers to the practice of placing an affiliate tracking cookie on a user’s browser without their knowledge or without a legitimate click.
If the shopper later completes a purchase, the party that inserted the cookie can receive credit—and earn a commission—even though it did not actually drive the sale.
According to affiliate marketing experts, this practice violates the policies of many affiliate networks and retailers.
Ben Edelman told Bloomberg: “The most fundamental requirement in affiliate marketing is that commission is only paid if a user clicks.”
He added: “The rules don’t allow fake clicks, simulated clicks, imaginary clicks or hypothetical clicks. Only a real click will do.”
How did Bloomberg test the extension?
Bloomberg reported testing the Phia browser extension over the course of a week across more than 50 retail websites.
According to the investigation, whenever users reached the checkout stage, the extension automatically opened a hidden background tab that briefly loaded Phia’s affiliate link before closing.
Bloomberg observed similar behavior across multiple affiliate networks, including:
The publication also found the extension replacing referral links on major retailers including Walmart, Nike and Zara.
In one example, Bloomberg clicked a Nordstrom shopping link published by Wirecutter.
Before checkout, Phia allegedly replaced Wirecutter’s affiliate tracking code with its own.
Why are competitors concerned?
Capital One Shopping, a competing browser extension, warned retailers that Phia was generating “fake clicks” and engaging in cookie stuffing.
According to an email reviewed by Bloomberg, the company said: “Publishers like us are having material revenue taken.”
It added: “Advertisers like you are losing money to fake clicks.”
Capital One said it considered it its responsibility to alert retailers about potentially concerning practices in the affiliate ecosystem.
How has Phia responded?
Phia acknowledged the issue after Bloomberg contacted the company.
A spokesperson said the problem resulted from a recent software release and had already been fixed.
According to the company: “Within the last 24 hours, we were made aware that in a recent release our codebase was causing misattributions from a subset of users.”
The company said engineers worked overnight to identify and resolve the issue.
Bloomberg later retested the extension and reported that the automatic referral replacement had stopped.
Phia also maintained that it undergoes regular audits by affiliate network partners and has “always maintained compliance.”
Have affiliate networks taken action?
Yes.
Impact.com said it suspended Phia’s account after detecting behavior inconsistent with its policies.
The company said it is reviewing affected transactions and working with Phia to determine what corrective action, if any, is necessary.
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