Imagine you are scrolling Instagram when your favourite fashion creator posts the perfect pair of shoes for your next Friday night out.  You trust her taste, so you tap her link and add them to your cart. She made the sale. Her affiliate link should earn her the commission. But as you check out, Phia allegedly opens a background tab and swaps the affiliate credit for its own. You never saw it. You never clicked it. By the time you press “pay now”, the retailer’s system may no longer see the creator as the person who referred the sale. It … Continue reading Your AI Shopper Has a Boss. It Might Not Be You: The Phia Scandal, Cookie Stuffing and the Future of Consumer Trust in the age of Agentic Shopping