Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni reportedly knew Phia was ‘cookie stuffing’ for months

据报道，Phoebe Gates 和 Sophia Kianni 数月前已知晓 Phia 存在“Cookie 填充”行为

Phia, the shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, is once again under fire for its alleged business practices. The latest issue stems from earlier this year when Bloomberg published an investigation that mapped out how Phia was taking credit and commission for affiliate purchases it did not help to generate, known as cookie stuffing. 由 Phoebe Gates 和 Sophia Kianni 共同创立的购物初创公司 Phia 因其涉嫌的商业行为再次受到抨击。最新的争议源于今年早些时候彭博社发布的一项调查，该调查揭露了 Phia 如何通过“Cookie 填充”（cookie stuffing）手段，将并非由其促成的联盟营销购买行为归功于自己并从中赚取佣金。

It’s a controversial practice that can get startups sued, mainly because it’s seen as taking referral revenue away from other affiliate marketers. Usually, when affiliate platforms like Phia sign on to work in a marketplace, they sign a contract stating that cookie stuffing is banned because it’s unfair. 这是一种极具争议的做法，可能会导致初创公司面临诉讼，主要原因是它被视为抢占了其他联盟营销人员的推荐收入。通常情况下，当像 Phia 这样的联盟平台签约进入市场时，它们会签署一份合同，明确禁止“Cookie 填充”行为，因为这种做法是不公平的。

When Bloomberg first reported on Phia’s cookie stuffing, a Phia spokesperson told the publication that the company was only made aware of the issue when Bloomberg reached out to them. But new reporting by Bloomberg shows that Gates and Kianni knew their startup was cookie stuffing as far back as December, based on leaked Slacks and sources familiar with the matter speaking to the publication. 当彭博社首次报道 Phia 的“Cookie 填充”行为时，Phia 的发言人曾告诉该媒体，公司是在彭博社联系他们时才意识到这一问题的。但彭博社的最新报道显示，根据泄露的 Slack 聊天记录以及知情人士向该媒体透露的信息，Gates 和 Kianni 早在去年 12 月就已经知道他们的初创公司在进行“Cookie 填充”。

The latest reporting found that cookie stuffing made up a good chunk of Phia’s sales and the company saw a sizable drop in daily revenue once it stopped the practice. The outlet also gained insight into the affected retailers, including Nike and Nordstrom. 最新的报道发现，“Cookie 填充”占据了 Phia 销售额的很大一部分，而在停止该行为后，公司的每日收入出现了大幅下降。该媒体还深入了解了受影响的零售商，其中包括耐克（Nike）和诺德斯特龙（Nordstrom）。

Back in early July, a Phia spokesperson referred to the cookie stuffing as a bug, but Bloomberg now reports that this was a purposefully built feature that could be switched on and off. The leaked Slack messages also show Gates and Kianni talking about cookie stuffing practices with other executives and engineers. 早在 7 月初，Phia 的一位发言人曾将“Cookie 填充”称为一个“漏洞”（bug），但彭博社现在报道称，这是一个可以随意开启或关闭的、经过刻意设计的功能。泄露的 Slack 消息还显示，Gates 和 Kianni 曾与其他高管及工程师讨论过“Cookie 填充”的操作。

Regarding the new allegations, a Phia spokesperson told Bloomberg that it rebuffed some of the publication’s claims, but said the company would “learn from this.” Phia did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. 针对这些新的指控，Phia 的发言人告诉彭博社，公司反驳了该媒体的部分说法，但表示公司将“从中吸取教训”。Phia 没有立即回应 TechCrunch 的置评请求。

Phia launched last April with the promise to be a more effective Google Flights-like site for shopping — helping users find the best prices across various retailers. A few days after Bloomberg’s investigation in July, Puck also dug around and found that Phia lost almost half its full-time employees since the beginning of the year; that several brands were unaware that they were listed on the app; and that investors got the ick from how aggressively Phia was leaning into affiliate marketing. Phia 于去年 4 月推出，承诺打造一个更高效的、类似 Google Flights 的购物网站，帮助用户在各大零售商中找到最优价格。在彭博社 7 月份的调查发布几天后，Puck 也进行了深入挖掘，发现 Phia 自年初以来已经流失了近一半的全职员工；多家品牌方根本不知道自己被列在该应用上；而且投资者对 Phia 在联盟营销方面表现出的激进态度感到反感。

It’s also faced controversy in the past, like about how it was secretly collecting swaths of sensitive data, including tracking user behavior across the web and sending it back to their servers. 该公司过去也曾面临争议，例如它曾被曝秘密收集大量敏感数据，包括追踪用户在网络上的行为并将其发送回公司服务器。