Ben Edelman on Phia’s Alleged Forced Clicks: How Shopping Plugins Commit Affiliate Fraud

In a Deeper Diligence guest episode, ad-fraud researcher Ben Edelman discusses his investigation into Phia and the Bloomberg coverage alleging affiliate fraud through “forced clicks” and standdown-rule violations. Edelman explains the three-step affiliate marketing bargain (show link, user clicks, user buys) and how forced clicks skip the user click by using Phia’s iOS plugin to open an invisible tab that loads an affiliate link and closes it, positioning Phia as “last click” for commission—often costing merchants, and sometimes other affiliates like review publishers. He also describes standdown rules requiring shopping plugins to stay out of the way when another affiliate referred the user, and says Phia tracked competitor affiliate links yet did not stand down. Edelman questions Phia’s claim this behavior was a bug, cites past cases including eBay prosecutions and Honey-related evidence, and argues enforcement can deter fraud.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:14 Ben Edelman Background

01:40 Why Phia Drew Attention

03:18 Cookie Stuffing vs Forced Clicks

04:14 Affiliate Marketing Basics

07:21 Networks and Incentives

09:40 Phia Forced Clicks Explained

12:34 Stand Down Rules Violations

14:31 Real World Harm Examples

17:09 Bug Claim and Intent

21:27 Past Major Fraud Cases

23:27 Honey Investigation Lessons

24:55 Stopping Fraud Systemically

27:02 Future Misconduct and Wrap Up

28:11 Closing Thanks and Contact

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