FTC Fielded Consumer Complaints About Phia Months Before Cookie-Stuffing Scandal Broke

Records obtained via FOIA show the agency began receiving complaints about undisclosed advertising last January — long before Bloomberg’s reporting on the Phoebe Gates-founded startup’s commission practices.

BY SAM BLUM, SENIOR WRITER @SAMMBLUM

Sophia Kianni and Phoebe Gates. Photo: Getty Images

A redacted Federal Trade Commission report obtained by Inc. via a Freedom of Information Act request shows that last January, the agency started receiving consumer complaints about Phia, the embattled startup founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni. 

The company makes an AI-shopping assistant that compares prices for luxury........

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