Motorola says affiliate hijacking of Amazon app was 'unintended'

Some Motorola phones in the US routed users through a web tracking link before opening the Amazon Shopping app. The behavior was unintended and caused inconsistent user experience. Motorola identified the issue and corrected the routing configuration so installed apps launch directly as intended. Users reported that opening Amazon briefly opened the phone browser and then returned to Amazon. During the brief visit, a website associated with fashion influencer Kira Abboud appeared to be queried, which was enough to install a tracking cookie. The cookie could add an affiliate code to the shopping session, potentially enabling commissions for the party that installed it, even though end users would not notice a direct effect.

"Recently, Motorola acted quickly to resolve an issue that was identified, which caused some users in the US launching the Amazon Shopping app to be routed through a web tracking link before opening the app. This behavior was unintended and resulted in an inconsistent user experience. Upon identifying the issue, we promptly corrected the routing configuration. Users can now expect all installed apps to launch directly as intended."

"On opening the Amazon app the phone would first briefly open the phone's browser before returning to Amazon. Strangest of all, users were sent to a website that appears to be linked to fashion influencer Kira Abboud, though isn't actually referenced on any of her other pages. That split-second visit was enough to install a tracking cookie however, which in turn added an affiliate code to the user's shopping session - though, again, not one that matches any of Abboud's other content."

"The code wouldn't make any direct difference to the end user, but could theoretically allow whoever installed it to receive a small percentage of any purchase that was made. The Verge uses similar Amazon affiliate links for some of our shopping content, though always with a disclaimer, rather than installed covertly."

"Yi blamed the redirect on "an app search and suggestion experience for the Moto App Launcher" co-developed with Device Native. It was Device Native's website that Reddit user Trypocopris noticed was being queried by the phone behin"

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