1. Choose a starting page
Open a public Amazon review, profile, or product. Choose Start a case from this page. The panel shows one next step, why it matters, and your saved progress.
PUBLIC TRACES INVESTIGATOR · CHROME EXTENSION
Follow the evidence.
Keep your own case.
Start with the reviews a profile exposes, follow product lists newest first, and keep the metadata as your case grows. The investigator runs in your browser.
See a case. Then build your own.
Walk through the example investigation → See one reviewer’s count, the shared products, and the review dates behind it. The example uses generated records; your own cases stay in your browser.
You do not need a Public Traces account or an Amazon account to start on supported, publicly visible pages. Amazon may request sign-in on particular pages; continue with the pages you can access.
SET UP ONCE
Install in Chrome on your computer.
Download the investigator and unzip the file.
Open
chrome://extensionsin Chrome. Turn on Developer mode, choose Load unpacked, and select the unzipped investigator folder.Open a supported Amazon product or reviewer page. In Chrome’s toolbar Extensions menu, choose Public Traces Investigator to open the side panel.
This download is a Chrome extension for desktop computers. The worked example is available here on any screen.
YOUR FIRST INVESTIGATION
One next action, with a reason.
2. Follow the next action
Open next review fills in a listed review’s product and date. Open product review list starts checking who else posted nearby five-star reviews. The panel explains which reviewer to follow next using the connections found so far.
3. Collect the date range
On Amazon’s newest-first list, use Show 10 more reviews to load older reviews. The panel tells you when to click on Amazon and when to use a button in the extension. It shows the target dates and collection progress. Return to the reviewer’s profile or inspect and export your saved case at any point.
Open all review links exposed by a profile, often up to 20, across all star ratings. Batch opening is available in the review queue. Product lists collect all ratings, newest first. No fixed day cutoff is applied. The method uses five-star reviews and, by default, their ±28-day windows.
Pause capture stops saving pages in the selected window and marketplace. Profiles provide partial histories; unavailable pages and unfinished product windows stay visible as gaps. Coverage across some products does not establish a reviewer’s full history.
Each distinct examined reviewer’s neighborhood (ego) containing another reviewer adds one corroboration. Several shared products with the same seed reviewer still add only one. Counts do not establish payment, fraud, or complete coverage of an account.
KEEP A RECORD
Export before you leave.
Open Case & evidence, then Export in the side panel. Choose Download case file (JSON) to keep the structured observations and collection record, or Download ranked reviewers (CSV) to inspect the ranking in a spreadsheet.
New cases keep their metadata in this browser without expiry; this website does not receive it. Existing cases retain their settings: choose Keep saved metadata in the panel to turn off expiry. Export a copy before clearing browser data, removing the extension, or closing a temporary session.
Exported files can contain raw public reviewer and product identifiers. Keep them private unless you intentionally choose to share them.
WHAT COMES NEXT
Shared contributions are coming later.
This release provides the research, worked examples, and a tool for local investigations. Online uploads, private submission receipts, and reviewed community datasets are not open yet.