Mozilla is testing a new built-in “Review Checker” feature for the Firefox browser, which evaluates how trustworthy a product's customer reviews are.
The experimental feature was first spotted by MSPowerUser, and Firefox's senior director of product management, Byron Jourdan, confirmed that the company is testing the new feature "to a limited audience in the United States," in a statement that given to The Verge.
Fake reviews are a big problem for online sellers, who have to take increasingly aggressive measures to prevent malicious users from using them to boost their own product reviews. Amazon has occasionally removed tens of thousands of reviews deemed fake, and has taken legal action against people who moderated fake reviews through Facebook groups. Two years ago, the UK's antitrust regulator launched a formal investigation into the problem.
Firefox's Review Checker is gearing up to give users the tools they need to weed out fake reviews wherever they are found.
Screenshots posted by MSPowerUser indicate that the tool will be accessible via an icon in the browser's URL bar, which will also display a sidebar with details on the currently open product page. The tool will give product reviews a score based on how trustworthy it thinks they are, offering a “customized rating” out of five stars.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
