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

(blog.truestar.pro)
406 points doppio19 | 1 comments | 01 Jul 25 20:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.206s | source
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bentcorner ◴[01 Jul 25 23:32 UTC] No.44438912[source]▶
> Mozilla couldn't find a sustainable business model for Fakespot despite its popularity

I don't know if it's fair for me to armchair quarterback, but still - what was their business model when they decided to do the acquisition? From the outside looking in barely did anything whatsoever.

I browse Amazon using Firefox extremely often and I don't recall seeing any helper UI pop up. Even so, what would have been their strategy to monetize me? User data? Commissions? Some kind of Mozilla+ subscription?

I love FF and cheer Mozilla on where I can, but honestly these decisions are inscrutable.

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1. 4b11b4 ◴[02 Jul 25 04:14 UTC] No.44440195[source]▶
Right, why even buy it in the first place? I can't imagine the landscape has changed much, unless the most popular comment here is all the evidence you need...