Phia, the shopping startup co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, is back in the hot seat over its alleged business practices. This time, it's about the whole cookie stuffing debacle that Bloomberg first exposed earlier this year. For those not in the know, cookie stuffing is when a company takes credit and commission for affiliate purchases it had absolutely nothing to do with generating. It's a shady move that can get startups sued, mostly because it's seen as stealing referral revenue from other affiliate marketers. When affiliate platforms like Phia join a marketplace, they typically sign a contract promising not to do this because it's unfair. Shocking, we know.

When Bloomberg first dropped its investigation, a Phia spokesperson claimed the company only found out about the cookie stuffing when Bloomberg reached out. But new reporting from Bloomberg, based on leaked Slack messages and sources familiar with the matter, reveals that Gates and Kianni knew about it as far back as December. Yes, December. That's a solid six months of knowing your startup is doing something sketchy and deciding to, well, keep doing it.

The latest scoop also shows that cookie stuffing was a significant chunk of Phia's sales, and daily revenue took a noticeable nosedive once they stopped. Bloomberg also got the inside track on which retailers were affected, including Nike and Nordstrom. Because nothing says 'ethical shopping startup' like ripping off Nike.

Back in early July, a Phia spokesperson called the cookie stuffing a 'bug.' But Bloomberg now reports it was a purposefully built feature that could be switched on and off like a light switch. The leaked Slacks show Gates and Kianni chatting about cookie stuffing practices with other execs and engineers, which kind of undermines the whole 'we had no idea' defense. When reached for comment on the new allegations, a Phia spokesperson told Bloomberg they rebuffed some claims but said the company would 'learn from this.' Learn what, exactly? How to cover tracks better?

Phia launched last April with the promise of being a more effective Google Flights for shopping, helping users find the best prices across various retailers. Instead, it's been a masterclass in how not to run an affiliate platform. A few days after Bloomberg's July investigation, Puck dug around and found that Phia lost almost half its full-time employees since the start of the year, several brands were unaware they were listed on the app, and investors got the ick from how aggressively Phia was leaning into affiliate marketing. Oh, and let's not forget the earlier controversy about secretly collecting swaths of sensitive data, including tracking user behavior across the web and sending it back to their servers. Good times.

Phia did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment, which is probably for the best. We're sure they're busy 'learning.'