You’ve surely noticed that when browsing Amazon, most of the brand names are not ones you recognize. In fact, they’re mostly not names at all, just a series of seemingly random letters mashed together. And even if the product does show up, the fly-by-night operation behind it probably won’t be around to offer support or a replacement when it breaks. A browser extension called Knockoff is meant to save you from those, well, knockoff products in the first place.
Built by developer Josh Pigford, the extension, which is available for Chrome and Firefox, went viral this week when he posted it on X—which is probably indicative of just how many people have had the same “What the f**k is this brand?” thought pop into their heads while scanning Amazon. When activated, Knockoff will dim listings on Amazon that appear to be from some random upstart that will actually ship you an imitation product.
Knockoff is now live!
Filter out the knockoff crap brands on Amazon.
Sorry to brands like WNPETHOME, EHEYCIGA, YXYL, LU&MN, JOYIN, TOMY, GODONLIF, YOOJEE, LINGTENG, LANEIGE, VISCOO, BIODANCE, COOFANDY, BALENNZ, TOSY and LUENX.https://t.co/9mLk0EAsfG https://t.co/K07lMkepOW
— Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) July 7, 2026
In a conversation with 404 Media, Pigford explained that the first thing the extension looks at is the brand name. Have a bunch of consonants or vowels strung together in a nonsensical way? You’re probably getting dimmed. But there’s also a community-supported block list where users can flag knockoff brands to make sure other users are aware not to buy (or report when a real brand has gotten caught in the crossfire).
The extension can also dim sponsored listings if you want it to, blocking out products that paid Amazon for top spots on the site. You’ll notice that using the extension will fundamentally change how Amazon looks when you go looking for something. “There was somebody who sent me a screenshot from using the extension, and the first 20 items or something were all grayed out,” Pigford told 404 Media.
The fact that Amazon is now flooded with these strange brand names is kind of by design. The company requires sellers to hold a trademark to be included in the Amazon Brand Registry, which is key to getting their listings seen. One way to get faster approval on a trademark from the USPTO is to make sure that it doesn’t conflict with any other trademarks. Nonsense letters typically don’t have any competitors, it turns out. Most of these trademark-getters are based overseas, too. Per the New York Times, more than half of Amazon’s top sellers are now based in China, in no small part because they can get a fast-tracked trademark, turn a quick profit, and disappear. And Amazon has little motivation to do anything about it because the brands are technically trademarked by the USPTO, giving the company plausible deniability that the government must have vetted them.
Up til now, you were on your own navigating that. Now at least you have an ally.
