Economist, attorney, software developer. Research focus: Fixing the Internet.
Bellevue, WA
Joined April 2009
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KLM took a passenger’s points & fees for award travel, confirmed the booking, but issued no ticket. He was turned away at the airport and had to buy an expensive last-minute ticket. KLM admitted error but offered a voucher worth less than half his loss. regulations.gov/document/DOT…
When I first started writing about second-price auctions, a common question from academic audiences was why ad platforms don't promise to charge second price, but then charge first price. That question hasn't aged well!
1/5 Downgraded by American Airlines? After Mike Borsetti and I complained to DOT, AA abandoned its controversial "40% refund" rule. But its proposed replacement creates even bigger problems. regulations.gov/document/DOT…
4/5 Better approach: Refund the actual fare difference between cabins, based on prices at time of purchase. If AA doesn't preserve the historic lower fare, use the lowest published fare for the lower cabin on the purchase date. Easy in reservation systems.
5/5 Public input is clear: 120 DOT comments unanimously criticized the 40% rule. The DOT should step in to protect consumers, force transparent downgrade criteria, and make under-refunded passengers whole. @RakeshSFNYC @garyleff
ShopMy "brand partner" is a new affiliate network competing with Impact, CJ, Rakuten, Awin. Risk of merchants double-paying. To this, ShopMy tells merchants to always cancel the other guy and always pay ShopMy. Huh? benedelman.org/shopmy-tells-…
I would be interested to hear what #shopmy says about the instruction to always cancel the other network's commission.
Networks Impact and Affiliate Window most affected based on merchant overlap with ShopMy brand partners. Does ShopMy's recommendation fit your rules?
Ben Edelman retweeted
Remember Phia? Well, it looks like the cookie stuffing was going on for a lot longer than previously disclosed. And co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni knew about and encouraged the development of the software features that enabled it.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Phia co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni pushed for features in the e-commerce startup’s software that took credit for sales it didn’t drive, according to internal communications and people with knowledge of the matter bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
INSANE! Slack messages reveal Phia's founders knew they were stuffing cookies and even pushed for it.
Incredible journalism from @oliviasolon 👏👏
Credit to @bgedelman for his involvement too.
let's see if the affiliate networks respond appropriately
Phia co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni pushed for features in the e-commerce startup’s software that took credit for sales it didn’t drive, according to internal communications and people with knowledge of the matter bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
On mobile, shopping app Phia treated X and swipe-away as grounds to invoke an affiliate link. Code below. Also Phia auto-reopened affiliate links periodically so it would be last click. Forced clicks, contrary to network rules and contract. Details at benedelman.org/phia-on-exit-…
Ben Edelman retweeted
@aripap and @ericfranchi sit down with @bgedelman, independent researcher and consultant, to discuss the Phia affiliate controversy, ad fraud, attribution, AppLovin, Google's Buyer Direct, Meta and Microsoft earnings, creator marketing, and this week's biggest ad tech news.
Watch the full episode.
news.marketecture.tv/podcast…
Impressive and rigorous technical analysis revealing a new form of serious misconduct by AppLovin -- persistent tracking even when denied by ATT. I and others long suspected this, and inferred it from the many encoded transmissions, but @lmbbuchodi proved it.
How I broke AppLovin’s mediation cipher protocol
buchodi.com/i-broke-applovin…
Shopping plugin Phia is forcing clicks and dishonoring stand-down. Clear violations of affiliate network rules. My article provides video and packet log evidence. benedelman.org/phia-forced-c…
Bloomberg coverage: "Gates Heir's Shopping App Took Credit for Sales It Didn't Drive" -- bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
In Feb 2014, I revealed Google's secret contracts to make phone mfgs preload its apps. benedelman.org/news-021314/ Today Europe rejected Google's appeal and upheld the €4.1 billion fine. But what penalty for Eric Schmdit perjury to conceal the violation? benedelman.org/google-androi…
I've worked on many DOT complaints. This one is particularly wild. Passengers used AF points to book travel. Eticket confirmation email issued. Online check-in OK. AF canceled their tickets on the day of travel. Replacements cost $$$. Details at regulations.gov/document/DOT…
@garyleff, incisive as ever, has the details. viewfromthewing.com/air-fran…
