A new browser extension called Knockoff gives Amazon shoppers a blunt instrument for a familiar problem: search results packed with brands that look less like companies and more like a keyboard test.
Josh Pigford, the software developer behind the project, built Knockoff for Chrome and Firefox to hide, gray out, or filter Amazon product listings from brands it flags as suspicious. It can also remove sponsored product listings, according to 404 Media, which reported on the tool and spoke with Pigford.
The extension is aimed at the weird sludge layer of Amazon search: screwdrivers from SUNHZMCKP, spoons from SACATR, a lamp from ROTTOGOON, and the long tail of unfamiliar sellers that now crowd searches for basic household goods. In a post announcing the extension, Pigford apologized to a list of brands including WNPETHOME, EHEYCIGA, YXYL, LU&MN, JOYIN, TOMY, GODONLIF, YOOJEE, LINGTENG, LANEIGE, VISCOO, BIODANCE, COOFANDY, BALENNZ, TOSY, and LUENX.
How the filter works
Pigford told 404 Media that Knockoff builds allow and block lists for brands, using several signals. One of them is the brand name itself: the number of vowels and consonants, how those letters are clustered, and whether the name is written in all caps.
That means a name such as EHEYCIGA can be automatically swept into the filter. Pigford said users are also meant to shape the database. Anyone using the extension can ask it to block or allow a brand for their own browsing, report a brand that looks suspect, or flag a brand that was wrongly classified.
The tool runs locally, does not require an account, and does not send data back to a server, Pigford told 404 Media. It is free. “I stand to benefit nothing directly economically, it’s a nice little tool I wanted to make,” he said.
Knockoff is not the first attempt to put a warning label on Amazon’s stranger brand economy. Pigford’s project follows earlier tools including AmazonBrandFilter and The Markup’s Amazon Brand Detector, both of which also tried to identify or filter Amazon brands that shoppers might not recognize.
A small tool for a larger Amazon problem
Pigford said the idea came back to him while doing yard work. His trimmer would not start, so he went to Amazon looking for specific tools and found himself staring at brand names he did not know. He told 404 Media he wanted something from a common or familiar brand and decided to build a filter.
The extension quickly drew attention online because it makes Amazon’s search incentives visible in a way the company’s interface does not. Pigford said one user sent him a screenshot where roughly the first 20 results had been grayed out before a familiar product appeared.
The problem is not limited to odd names. The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against Amazon, filed under Joe Biden’s administration, has accused the company of creating a marketplace where sellers often need to pay for ads or placement boosts to surface near the top of results. 404 Media also described the platform as a race toward search-optimized listings, copied product designs, and short-lived brands built to win Amazon’s ranking systems.
Amazon shoppers can already scroll past questionable listings by hand. Knockoff automates the annoyance, which is both useful and a little bleak: a browser add-on now exists to make one of the world’s largest stores look less like an SEO landfill.
This story draws on original reporting from 404 Media.
