Okay, after my last video blew up, I noticed that I was getting similar comments.

Okay, after my last video blew up, I noticed that I was getting similar comments. What is affiliate marketing and how does that business model actually work in practice? And thank you for those who noticed that I was one of the people drawing similarities between Phia and Honey on this platform. Let's talk about it. First, let's compare the two companies. Honey was founded in 2012, while Phia was founded in 2025. 13 years apart, different founders, different era, different vibe. Honey is the coupon saving app. You probably know it, you probably have used it. I know I have. Phia is an AI powered shopping assistant that helps you find the best price on what you're looking to buy. Both of these companies are venture capital backed. Honey was able to raise $49 million in venture capital funding and then was acquired by PayPal for $4 billion back in 2020. To date, Phia has raised about $43.5 million and it's currently valued at $185.5 million. Both of them make money the same way. Affiliate commissions. Someone shops, someone gets a portion of that sale in commission. This is the exact business model that both Honey and Phia deploy. And when this business model works, it works really well. And everyone benefits. The retailer, the seller, they get a new customer, they get a sale. And the affiliate marketer, they get a commission for leading the customer there. Here is what allegedly went wrong with both companies and where the issue lies. When you start saying that you help generate revenue, you are earning commission on clicks from customers that were not using your link. You are essentially a real estate agent earning commission on a house that you never showed. The Honey scandal broke in December of 2024. Phia launched in April of 2025. That is just 8 months apart. And the question that I keep coming back to is simple. If you're building a browser extension that earns money through affiliate commissions, that is 8 months prior that a similar business model just blew up. What are you doing to ensure that you don't end up in the same position? In the next video, I will break down what Ben Edelman found in his investigation, which Bloomberg is reporting on, and what he found in the code.