Build a Chrome Extension That Turns Reviews Into Revenue

💬 Product reviews are packed with insights—but most people can’t easily extract or use them.

If you're an affiliate marketer, ecommerce seller, or researcher, this Chrome extension idea lets you scrape reviews from any page and turn them into clean, usable data—instantly.

In this edition of Easy Startup Ideas, you'll learn how to build a simple Chrome extension that scrapes reviews from any product page and turns them into a repeatable, revenue-generating service.

Today’s Idea

A Chrome extension that scrapes and downloads product or service reviews from any webpage the user is viewing.

It first supports major websites (Amazon, Yelp, Etsy, etc.) using custom scraping rules, and later expands to work on most product/review pages on the internet using AI-assisted detection.

The exported data is structured into a clean CSV file with key fields like reviewer name, date, rating, and review text.

Ideal Customer

• Ecommerce sellers researching competitor reviews for market positioning.

• Affiliate marketers collecting review data to guide promotion strategy.

• Market researchers and analysts conducting qualitative review analysis.

• Small business owners managing their reputation or benchmarking against competitors.

• Consumers who want a personal archive or summary of product reviews before purchase.

Why It Will Succeed

This solves a real and under-addressed problem: quickly and cleanly extracting user reviews from websites. Most tools that scrape reviews are built for developers or require API access. This solution is:

• No-code, on-demand, and frictionless — built for non-technical users.

• Focused and useful — one click gives you structured data you can work with.

• Extensible — it starts small and becomes smarter over time using AI models for generalization.

• Lightweight — as a browser extension, it doesn't need a web server, backend, or user accounts at MVP.

• Defensible — expansion into AI parsing, review summarization, and review alerts creates a moat over time.

Getting Started and Building an MVP

Your goal for the MVP is simple and achievable:

You do not need to be a programmer to make this happen. With today’s tools, you can complete this project by:

• Copying and pasting code that AI tools write for you

• Following clear tutorials

• Testing the extension in your own browser

• Asking Claude or ChatGPT to help you fix or adjust anything

Step 1: Set Up the Project

You’re going to create a small Chrome extension — a simple package of files that the Chrome browser can run.

You need:

• A text editor like VS Code (free)

• A folder on your computer to hold the extension files

In that folder, you’ll eventually have:

• manifest.json: a setup file that tells Chrome what your extension can do

• popup.html: the small window UI for your extension

• popup.js: the code that runs when you click a button

• content.js: the script that runs inside the webpage to scrape reviews

If you're unsure how to create or edit these files, just ask:
“How do I create these files on my computer?” and Claude will walk you through it.

Step 2: Scrape Reviews on One Website (Start with Amazon)

Focus on just one site first (like Amazon). This way, you can launch a working version quickly.

Copy that HTML (just one review block), and ask Claude or ChatGPT:

**“This is an Amazon review. Please write JavaScript code that will find all similar reviews on the page and extract:

• Reviewer name

• Review date

• Star rating

• Review text
  Return the data in an array of objects.”**

They will give you the code you can paste into your content.js file.

If you don’t understand the code, that’s okay. You don’t need to. Claude will explain anything you ask, like:
“What does this part of the code do?” or
“What does querySelectorAll() mean?”

Step 3: Turn the Data Into a CSV File

Once you’ve collected the reviews into an array, you need to convert it into a CSV file (which can be opened in Excel or Google Sheets).

Copy and paste this code into your popup.js or content.js file, depending on where your button logic is.

You now have a working tool:

• Go to an Amazon product page

• Click your extension button

• The reviews download as a file

Step 4: Build a Simple Button UI

Your extension will need a small popup with a button. This is the box that appears when someone clicks your extension icon.

Then in popup.js, write a click handler that runs your content script.

Ask Claude:
“How do I trigger a content script from a button in popup.js in a Chrome extension?”
It will show you how to connect the popup to the page.

Step 5: Add Support for More Sites (Like Yelp or Etsy)

Once Amazon is working, repeat the process:

• Visit Yelp or Etsy and inspect their reviews

• Ask Claude:
  “Write scraping logic to extract reviewer name, date, rating, and text from this review block.”

• Add site detection using code like:
  if (window.location.hostname.includes('yelp.com')) { ... }

This allows the extension to choose the correct scraper based on the site.

Step 6: Test and Refine the Extension

To test your extension:

1. Go to Chrome → Settings → Extensions

2. Turn on "Developer Mode"

3. Click "Load Unpacked" and select your extension folder

Now, your extension is running and you can test it on any product page.

If something breaks or doesn’t work, simply ask: “I got this error when running my extension: [paste error]. How do I fix it?”

Claude or ChatGPT will guide you.

Step 7: Prepare for Publishing

When you’re happy with how it works:

• Make sure your manifest and files are correct

• Zip the folder

• Go to the Chrome Web Store Developer Dashboard and upload it

You’ll need:

• A title and description

• Some screenshots

• A small one-time fee to register ($5 USD)

Optional: Use Plasmo to Make It Easier

If you're feeling overwhelmed by file setup, use a tool like Plasmo. It’s built to help non-developers or beginners create browser extensions with less configuration.

You can install Plasmo, follow their tutorials, and still copy-paste your scraping logic into their system.

Ask Claude:
“Walk me through creating a simple Chrome extension with Plasmo to scrape Amazon reviews.”

Monetization Strategies

• Freemium

  • Free version supports 1–2 sites with review limits per export

  • Pro version supports all sites, unlimited exports, and AI-powered features

• Pro Features

  • Auto-summary of reviews (e.g. “Most common complaint: battery life”)

  • Sentiment breakdown (percent positive/negative)

  • Bulk scraping across multiple URLs

  • Export directly to Google Sheets

• Team Licensing

  • Offer agency or ecommerce teams multiple seats and shared dashboards

• One-time Purchase

  • Lifetime deal via Gumroad, AppSumo, or your own site

• Review Intelligence SaaS (Future Expansion)

  • Store review data for users and provide trend dashboards over time

  • Sell as an API or analytics backend to marketers and analysts

Marketing Strategies

• Chrome Web Store SEO

  • Use keywords like: “review scraper”, “export reviews”, “scrape Amazon reviews”, “CSV reviews downloader”

• YouTube Tutorials

  • Create short videos showing how to export Amazon/Yelp/Etsy reviews with one click

• Reddit & IndieHackers

  • Engage in communities related to Amazon FBA, market research, and affiliate marketing

• Product Hunt Launch

  • Feature your launch to gain early adopters

• Affiliate Programs

  • Reach out to ecommerce educators or tool review YouTubers to promote your extension

• Cold outreach to Amazon sellers

  • Offer the tool to analyze competitor products and extract review data quickly

Expanding and Improving

• Phase 2: Add AI-assisted scraping

  • Use OpenAI or Claude to semantically detect review sections on unknown sites

  • Let users scrape reviews from arbitrary pages with less consistent structure

• Phase 3: Add sentiment analysis and summaries

  • Use Claude or ChatGPT to analyze all extracted reviews and summarize them

  • Highlight top 3 complaints and top 3 compliments

• Phase 4: Dashboard and review tracker

  • Let users paste a list of product URLs and get recurring scraping or alerts

• Community-powered site detection

  • Allow users to report working and non-working websites to improve scraping coverage

Brainstormed Business Names

Names for this website/business will likely depend on the specific niche and dataset(s) chosen, but here are some generic ones:

1. ScrapeSnap

2. RevCSV

3. ReviewPort

4. OneClickReviews

5. Extractify

6. ReviewDown

7. CSVify Reviews

8. PullFeedback

9. RevExporter

10. ClearReview

Thanks for checking out another edition of Easy Startup Ideas!

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