Uh oh!! That's not good. And there's a reason I bring this up for anyone who Hodls Basic Attention Token. This may come back to hurt the Brave Browser. And since they're the force behind BAT, it could bode poorly for the token as well.
The CEO of Brave Browser has admitted to what he calls a mistake, and offered a public apology via Twitter.
Unfortunately, the new disclosure laws we've seen out of Europe and the USA the past few years may decide they want more than an apology.
Cryptocurrency URL's Were Redirected To Affiliate Links
I wonder how a website would make that mistake in the first place? Granted, I'm certain Brave isn't your typical WordPress coded site, but that's a big error in coding. Even if it was one small error, it led to a big mistake.
And who, I wonder, got to cash in on any sales that might have come from those links? Whichever Crytpo website the user entered into the search bar.
If you pay attention to your URL destinations, you would have caught it right away, but not too many people have likely developed that habit. It's a dead giveaway when you see the URL change and the ?ref appears as part of a new URL.
What Could Happen To Brave?
It could be that Brave caught it quickly before many users picked up unknown cookies. Chances are that no consequence come at all.
Looking back at the fines levied on Google and Facebook by the EU Commission shows little to worry about. Those were anti-trust fines for unfair marketing practices that drove out the competition. Brave isn't likely to be fined for that.
In the USA we have the FTC or Fair Trade Commission. Their regulatory power doesn't focus on handing out fines. The most they typically do is require a business to repay the unfair cost.
In this case, Brave wasn't necessarily benefitting from the mistake. Rather the crypto websites people were searching for. That seems like some muddy water to allocate expenditures.
Even without any penalty, Brave doesn't want to attract attention from the sort of agencies that might be on alert for this type of activity.
I'd definitely keep an eye on this situation to make sure nothing else becomes of it.
Thanks for your attention!
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