Mozilla (Firefox) acquires Fakespot to spot fake site reviews
Mozilla, which handles the Firefox browser, announces that it has acquired Fakespot, a start-up that offers an extension to detect fake reviews on websites. It’s used on sites like Amazon.
People rely (at least in part) on reviews to make their online buying decisions, and a large number of positive reviews for a product can tip decisions in its favour. Many sellers use paid reviews to improve the rating and ranking of their products. According to Which? (British magazine of a consumer association), companies do not do enough to fight against scammers.
Integrating Fakespot’s technology into Firefox will help users shop with confidence knowing that fake reviews will be flagged.
Separately, Mozilla plans to invest more in Fakespot and claims it will improve the online shopping experience for millions of people. According to the group, the extension will continue to work on other platforms and browsers like Chrome, Android, and iOS. Mozilla adds that with its goal of putting customers first, it will also develop features that will remain exclusive to Firefox to identify genuine products with real reviews and ratings.
“Adding Fakespot capabilities will allow Firefox customers to be better equipped to weed out misleading reviews and shop with confidence, knowing that what they’re buying is high quality and genuine. This is great proof of the work we’re doing to make Firefox the browser that truly puts the customer experience first.”, noted Mozilla.
