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I did search around looking for alternatives and the landscape isn't great. There's ReviewMeta.com which doesn't work 100% of the time and is no longer actively

by pogue 1y ago

I did search around looking for alternatives and the landscape isn't great. There's ReviewMeta.com which doesn't work 100% of the time and is no longer actively maintained as far as I can tell. TheReviewIndex.com I didn't find to be very helpful, as it doesn't index all products and sometimes just refuses to check on listings you ask it to. It seems to have some kind of subscription model, but they don't list the price and offer some kind of enterprise model that doesn't sound like it has anything to do with checking reviews. SearchBestSellers.com isn't for checking individual products, but it will show you the top sellers for each category so you can get an idea of what could be good in the category you're looking for Camelcamelcamel.com is a price watch tool that will also show you some historical info on a product & notify you if you sign up and want to be emailed when a price drop occurs There are a few others on AlternativeTo that weren't there the last time I checked. https://alternativeto.net/software/fakespot/ https://alternativeto.net/software/fakespot/ On Reddit, some people were mentioning alternatives, including asking ChatGPT about the product and it might have some kinda helpful advice, but nothing like Fakespot offered. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1ktm4g4/now_that_fakespot_is_shutting_down_what_are_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1ktm4g4/now_that_f... If you use something else, have found a good alternative or a particular prompt you've tried in your favorite LLM to get info on an Amazon product, let us know!

doppio19 1y ago
I mentioned it briefly in the blog post, but this is exactly what I'm working on! Essentially, a spiritual successor to Fakespot that combines LLM analysis, more traditional ML techniques, and rule-based heuristics to detect fake reviews. I'll likely go the "subscription with generous free trial" route, to avoid meeting the same fate as Fakespot. I'm actively working on a prototype and have a landing page at https://www.truestar.pro https://www.truestar.pro if you want to get notified about when I launch.
- pogue 1y ago
  I saw that actually. I mentioned in another post on here recently that I figured that the only way a Fakespot v2 could exist is with a subscription model, but on the other hand, it's probably not something I could afford. Good luck with it though! You could always try advertising & affiliate links as a test to monetize the service as well.
  - doppio19 1y ago
    Thanks! Advertising is certainly a possibility, though I'm not sure using affiliate links in the browser extension itself will be an option. I know Google recently changed their policy on how browser extensions can manipulate affiliate links after the Honey scandal: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24328268/honey-coupon-code-browser-extension-scam-influencers-affiliate-marketing https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24328268/honey-coupon-co...
    - pogue 1y ago
      Yeah, probably not in the extension itself. But, Fakespot, on their web based reviews, had listings to alternative or better rated products than the one you were searching for. Possibly a bit of a conflict, but as far as I'm aware, it's the only way Fakespot was monetized.
- Mtinie 1y ago
  Please help me understand why a subscription to your service should be a valuable addition to my monthly spend. I buy extensively from Amazon across a number of product categories. My order history shows purchases as far back as 2005 (though I cannot be sure given I remember buying things in 1998 while in college, probably on a different account). During the intervening 20 years I can count on one hand the number of products I ordered which weren’t legitimate, matched my—admittedly moderate expectations for any commercial product—or included overhyped reviews. I’d be interested in a service like yours if I could understand how the cost would cover itself in benefits.
  - Syntaf 1y ago
    Attribution revenue is what I would consider the gold standard for these types of services. It makes sense on paper, if the service helps confirm legitimate reviews for you and convinces you to purchase said product, they should receive attribution revenue for helping generate the purchase. The reality is much much messier though, because often times the people who award attribution revenue have a conflict of interest against any service that could even potentially expose bad practices happening on their marketplace. I once worked for a popular deal site that developed a price tracking extension, a certain marketplace threatened to completely ban us from attribution revenue and we had to kill the extension over night despite our users loving it.
    - Mtinie 1y ago
      That does not help me understand why I should pay for this service. I personally have zero concern for why this service should make money beyond operating costs. “Why should I should pay for it” is the question I asked. In my experience the problem it proposes to solve isn’t something I consider so problematic that a subscription would improve things. My experience may not be the norm, and that’s definitely a consideration I’m aware of. Still, I can’t see a reason to subscribe as such.
- 4b11b4 1y ago
  Hmm I can see the angle
- 4b11b4 1y ago
  Subscription seems wrong, will prevent adoption
  - 4b11b4 1y ago
    Should show me something instantly, I should be able to paste in a url
- PUSH_AX 1y ago
  I really don't think this is going to work well, like how is an LLM going to know someone paid me for my review?
user3939382 1y ago
I’ve basically settled on only buying major brands that I already know from Amazon unless it’s something that I’m okay throwing away if it doesn’t work out. I then judge by my assessment of the bad reviews. IMHO judging these random Chinese products with the nonsense capital letter brands by actual reviews is a lost cause.
- account42 1y ago
  Yeah same here. The sad thing is that even with this Amazon is still better than most of the competition.
- tenuousemphasis 1y ago
  >I’ve basically settled on only buying major brands that I already know from Amazon I wouldn't even do that, unless you can't find it anywhere else. Amazon commingles their returns form 3rd party sellers and Amazon direct. So you might order an item, find out it was actually a broken returned item, and then have Amazon call you a liar.

by pogue 1y ago

doppio19 1y ago

I mentioned it briefly in the blog post, but this is exactly what I'm working on! Essentially, a spiritual successor to Fakespot that combines LLM analysis, more traditional ML techniques, and rule-based heuristics to detect fake reviews. I'll likely go the "subscription with generous free trial" route, to avoid meeting the same fate as Fakespot. I'm actively working on a prototype and have a landing page at https://www.truestar.pro https://www.truestar.pro if you want to get notified about when I launch.

pogue 1y ago
I saw that actually. I mentioned in another post on here recently that I figured that the only way a Fakespot v2 could exist is with a subscription model, but on the other hand, it's probably not something I could afford. Good luck with it though! You could always try advertising & affiliate links as a test to monetize the service as well.
- doppio19 1y ago
  Thanks! Advertising is certainly a possibility, though I'm not sure using affiliate links in the browser extension itself will be an option. I know Google recently changed their policy on how browser extensions can manipulate affiliate links after the Honey scandal: https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24328268/honey-coupon-code-browser-extension-scam-influencers-affiliate-marketing https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/23/24328268/honey-coupon-co...
  - pogue 1y ago
    Yeah, probably not in the extension itself. But, Fakespot, on their web based reviews, had listings to alternative or better rated products than the one you were searching for. Possibly a bit of a conflict, but as far as I'm aware, it's the only way Fakespot was monetized.
Mtinie 1y ago
Please help me understand why a subscription to your service should be a valuable addition to my monthly spend. I buy extensively from Amazon across a number of product categories. My order history shows purchases as far back as 2005 (though I cannot be sure given I remember buying things in 1998 while in college, probably on a different account). During the intervening 20 years I can count on one hand the number of products I ordered which weren’t legitimate, matched my—admittedly moderate expectations for any commercial product—or included overhyped reviews. I’d be interested in a service like yours if I could understand how the cost would cover itself in benefits.
- Syntaf 1y ago
  Attribution revenue is what I would consider the gold standard for these types of services. It makes sense on paper, if the service helps confirm legitimate reviews for you and convinces you to purchase said product, they should receive attribution revenue for helping generate the purchase. The reality is much much messier though, because often times the people who award attribution revenue have a conflict of interest against any service that could even potentially expose bad practices happening on their marketplace. I once worked for a popular deal site that developed a price tracking extension, a certain marketplace threatened to completely ban us from attribution revenue and we had to kill the extension over night despite our users loving it.
  - Mtinie 1y ago
    That does not help me understand why I should pay for this service. I personally have zero concern for why this service should make money beyond operating costs. “Why should I should pay for it” is the question I asked. In my experience the problem it proposes to solve isn’t something I consider so problematic that a subscription would improve things. My experience may not be the norm, and that’s definitely a consideration I’m aware of. Still, I can’t see a reason to subscribe as such.
4b11b4 1y ago
Hmm I can see the angle
4b11b4 1y ago
Subscription seems wrong, will prevent adoption
- 4b11b4 1y ago
  Should show me something instantly, I should be able to paste in a url
PUSH_AX 1y ago
I really don't think this is going to work well, like how is an LLM going to know someone paid me for my review?

user3939382 1y ago

I’ve basically settled on only buying major brands that I already know from Amazon unless it’s something that I’m okay throwing away if it doesn’t work out. I then judge by my assessment of the bad reviews. IMHO judging these random Chinese products with the nonsense capital letter brands by actual reviews is a lost cause.

account42 1y ago
Yeah same here. The sad thing is that even with this Amazon is still better than most of the competition.
tenuousemphasis 1y ago
>I’ve basically settled on only buying major brands that I already know from Amazon I wouldn't even do that, unless you can't find it anywhere else. Amazon commingles their returns form 3rd party sellers and Amazon direct. So you might order an item, find out it was actually a broken returned item, and then have Amazon call you a liar.