Fakespot shuts down today after 9 years of detecting fake product reviews

原始链接: https://blog.truestar.pro/fakespot-shuts-down/

Fakespot, the popular tool for detecting fake online reviews, shut down on July 1, 2025, after nine years of service. Founded in 2016 by Saoud Khalifah, it helped millions identify unreliable reviews on platforms like Amazon, revealing that up to 43% of reviews might be fabricated. Mozilla acquired Fakespot in 2023 and integrated its technology into Firefox, but ultimately discontinued it due to sustainability challenges. Users lamented the loss of Fakespot, which provided a crucial service in an increasingly deceptive online shopping environment. Its demise leaves a void, as shoppers now face greater difficulty discerning genuine reviews. Recognizing this need, a new tool called TrueStar is being developed as a "spiritual successor" to Fakespot, aiming to provide accurate and sustainable review analysis using modern AI. Fakespot's legacy remains, highlighting the importance of combating online fraud and promoting transparency in e-commerce.

Fakespot, a service for detecting fake product reviews, is shutting down after nine years. Users on Hacker News discussed the challenges Fakespot faced in keeping up with increasingly sophisticated methods of creating fake reviews. These include stores offering incentives for positive reviews, companies offering refunds for reviews of new models, and the use of AI to generate reviews. Several commenters shared experiences of trying to post negative reviews on Amazon, only to have them removed, especially if the reviews accused products of being counterfeit or mislabeled. Some suggested Amazon has a financial incentive to prioritize positive reviews, while others argued it's difficult to differentiate real and fake reviews at scale. Alternatives to Amazon like AliExpress and eBay were discussed, along with the challenges of trusting reviews and product quality. One commenter shared a personal experience of receiving multiple free vacuum cleaners in exchange for reviews, highlighting the moral dilemma and the problem of incentivized reviews. Mozilla acquired Fakespot with the intention of making the internet a safer place, but could not create a sustainable business model, and ultimately sunsetted the project. Some users expressed a need for alternatives.

原文

A timeline illustrating the events in Fakespot's history outlined in this article.

Today marks the end of an era. After nearly a decade of helping millions of shoppers navigate the murky waters of online reviews, Fakespot has officially closed its doors. If you tried to check a product listing this morning and found Fakespot not working, you're not alone. The service has permanently shut down.

TL;DR: Fakespot, the popular fake review detection tool acquired by Mozilla in 2023, shut down today, July 1, 2025. Founded by Saoud Khalifah in 2016, it helped millions identify unreliable Amazon reviews with 90% accuracy before Mozilla discontinued it due to sustainability challenges.

Fakespot's origins

Back in 2016, Saoud Khalifah bought a product on Amazon, trusting the glowing reviews, only to discover he'd been duped by fake feedback. Instead of just leaving his own angry review, Khalifah took a more proactive approach: he built Fakespot.

What started as one person's frustration with deceptive sellers became a tool that analyzed millions of reviews across Amazon and other major retailers like eBay and Walmart. The premise was simple but powerful: use AI to spot patterns that human shoppers might miss, like suspiciously similar language or reviewer profiles that didn't quite add up.

The magnitude of the deception

Fakespot's technology revealed some eye-opening statistics. About 43% of the best-selling Amazon products had reviews that were unreliable or fabricated, according to a study by app company Circuit. The problem was even worse in certain categories. Clothing and jewelry led the pack with a staggering 88% of reviews deemed unreliable.

These numbers painted a sobering picture of the online shopping landscape. Most of us rely on product reviews as a major factor when deciding what to buy, but nearly half of the feedback you read might not be genuine.

Funding and acquisition

As Fakespot gained traction, investors took notice. In November 2020, the company raised $4 million in Series A funding, bringing their total funding to $7 million and signaling strong confidence in their mission to combat fake reviews.

Three years later, Mozilla acquired Fakespot, bringing the startup's 13-person team into the Firefox family. Mozilla integrated Fakespot's technology directly into Firefox as the "Mozilla Review Checker" feature, making it easier than ever for users to verify product reviews without installing separate extensions.

For many users, this felt like a perfect match. Mozilla's reputation for privacy and transparency aligned beautifully with Fakespot's mission to bring honesty to online shopping.

The final chapter

But as Mozilla announced in May, not all acquisitions fit into a sustainable long-term model. The company made the difficult decision to discontinue both Pocket and Fakespot as part of a strategic refocus on Firefox's core features and AI-powered innovations.

The reasons were practical, if devastating for users. A flood of reviews lamenting the closure have appeared on Fakespot's extension page on the Chrome Web Store:

A screenshot of user reviews on the Chrome Web Store expressing frustration about the closure of the service. — Users have taken to the browser extension stores to lament Fakespot's demise.

Fakespot's mission resonated strongly with consumers, but Mozilla couldn't find a sustainable model to keep it running. Resources that once supported the service would now flow toward Firefox features like vertical tabs, smart search, and additional AI-powered features.

As we say goodbye to Fakespot, it's worth reflecting on what it accomplished. For nine years, it served as a defender against fraud in an increasingly deceptive marketplace. It gave shoppers a fighting chance against promotional reviewers and bot farms that undermine trust in online shopping.

What's next?

For those of us who came to rely on Fakespot's review analysis before making purchases, its absence leaves us less confident in our buying decisions. The need for trustworthy review analysis hasn't gone away. If anything, it's more critical than ever.

I know I'm not alone in feeling this gap, which is why I've begun building a tool that aims to be the spiritual successor to Fakespot. TrueStar will use modern AI, streamlined analysis techniques, and sustainable economics to keep costs manageable while maintaining the accuracy shoppers need.

Learning from Fakespot's challenges, TrueStar is being built to last. If you're interested, get notified when we launch.

Get notified

Quick answers about Fakespot's closure

When did Fakespot shut down?
Fakespot officially closed on July 1, 2025, with the Mozilla Review Checker feature in Firefox having ended on June 10, 2025.

Why did Fakespot shut down?
Mozilla couldn't find a sustainable business model for Fakespot despite its popularity, choosing to redirect resources to core Firefox features and AI-powered browser tools.

What happened to Fakespot?
Mozilla acquired Fakespot in 2023 but announced in May 2025 that both Fakespot and Pocket would be discontinued as part of a strategic refocus on Firefox development.

What are the best Fakespot alternatives?
While several options exist including ReviewMeta, The Review Index, and emerging tools like TrueStar, the market is still developing sustainable solutions that balance accuracy with affordability.

A final farewell

As Fakespot's servers go dark, let's raise a glass to the tool that made online shopping so much more trustworthy for nearly a decade. Thanks to Saoud Khalifah and his team for showing us what's possible when technology serves truth over profit.

Rest in peace, Fakespot. You fought the good fight. 🥂

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