Economist, attorney, software developer. Research focus: Fixing the Internet.
Bellevue, WA
Joined April 2009
- Tweets596
- Following242
- Followers4K
- Likes622
Kudos, a shopping extension powered by Wildfire, forced affiliate clicks—even when users clicked “Dismiss.” For seven months, this feature was enabled by default. Clear violation of affiliate network contracts.
Merchants deserve answers—and refunds.
benedelman.org/wildfire-kudo…
I appreciate @florianederer calling out the surprisingly many similarities between my case and the case about Harvard's mishandling of the morgue manager. Samd lawyer, same judge, same analytical error of glossing over the most important facts in the complaint.
Families of people who donated their bodies to Harvard Medical School sued Harvard after morgue manager Cedric Lodge was caught stealing and selling body parts. A judge dismissed the claims against Harvard, but the Massachusetts SJC reversed because Harvard's lack of oversight was much more substantial.
Edelman's case involves the same lower-level judge, the same defendant, and the same lawyer for Harvard. And guess what? Again, important evidence was largely omitted from the court's account before summary judgment was granted to Harvard.
edelman-v-harvard.org/appell…
Appellate briefing in Edelman v. Harvard is now complete. Briefs posted, with reflections, at edelman-v-harvard.org/appell…
Kaplan v. KLM takes a strange turn. KLM admits that a computer error led them not to issue the ticket. They say that means no contract formed, so they need not pay contract damages. But they took points & cash, called reservation "confirmed." Reply brief regulations.gov/document/DOT…
Affiliate network rules require a browser extension to "stand down" - say nothing at all -- when a user clicks another affiliate's links. But Wildfire opens "reactivate" windows trying to grab commission back. benedelman.org/reactivate-wi…
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/…
Ben Edelman retweeted
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/…
Ben Edelman retweeted
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…