Changelog

We want to hear from you 💌

It’s that time of year we ask for your honest feedback on how we’re doing. Positive or negative, your responses matter to us. As a way to say thank you for your time, we will be giving out a $50 gift card to a lucky winner. Click here to take our community survey.

Ads so easy even a caveman could do it.

If you tried to run a self-service ad in the past, you may have felt like you were drowning in a sea of next steps. It’s much easier now. Go to www.producthunt.com/ads/new, select your launch, and your product is back on the leaderboard and other high-traffic areas on our site, extension, and app in a few simple steps. You’re like, so self-sufficient now.

There’s a new Instagram handle in town.

And it’s all about AI. Follow our most AI-generated mascot @deeperlearning_ph on his journey to uncover the latest and greatest AI products, news, and trends.

🍷 Pairs nicely with our AI newsletter. If you haven’t subscribed yet, go to your settings and toggle on.

Have you noticed the bull$h!t filter?!

Just kidding. We haven’t cracked the code on that yet. But we did make some improvements that automatically bump really good comments to the top of launch and discussion threads. It’s not a power flex, just something we thought would make your Product Hunt experience better.

Let it be know, May is for makers.

It’s a review party! 🎉

ICYMI we’re challenging you to leave reviews on products you’ve used in the next two weeks in support of our makers. 10 winners will receive exclusive Product Hunt swag! See all the rules here.

Reviews are helpful to the whole community, but I can assure you that you’ll make a maker’s day by sharing your first-hand experience with them. Haven’t tried any products yet? It’s a great time to start! There’s tons of free products for every use case, so try searching for something that could potentially change your life.

To celebrate our community members that are already leaving helpful reviews, we added a label by their name that indicates they’re a 🌟top reviewer🌟. These peeps are the realest, so make sure to take into account what they have to say.

Makers, keep track of all your new reviews directly in your settings tab, and make sure to take the time to reply to praise and constructive feedback. If you need help getting admin access to your Product Hub, read this article. Hub page views are up 20% since February, so if you haven’t been paying attention to your page yet, now’s the time. 👀

More exposure for top launches

Introducing: The Pulse (available only on the Product Hunt mobile apps and all pressure points on your body) 🫀

Even though we’re here every day, we don’t necessarily expect you to be too. If you decide to take a step away and do something in real life, you don’t have to worry about missing out on the previous day’s top launches. The Pulse updates with the top product finds each week to give continued exposure to the best products, and your continued votes will determine who wins Product of the Month.

This story format makes it easy and fun to indulge in the blast from the past, so make sure to check it out on our mobile app.

To make sure our app don’t send your pulse through the roof, we made an improvement that will keep you feeling (inhale) calm (exhale). The option to change your feed to card view was cool to some (only 4% - which included me), but it was making the load times a bit unbearable. Now that it’s removed, load times are down from 5-7 seconds to .8-1.5 seconds. 😮‍💨

Better ways to build community

We’ve been revamping the place you all get to talk to each other because we know the discussion forum is an electric⚡️ way to make connections - B2B, B2C, C2C, and let’s be real sometimes even F2F (friend to friend).

You’ll notice the way we categorize discussions has changed slightly based on the most popular discussion topics we’ve seen over time.

Next time you strike up a conversation, make sure to add a topic tag so it’s easily discoverable by the folks that want to engage.

That’s all for today - May the Fourth be with you!

Extended leaderboard randomization

Last month we shared a few ways we’re combating spam and leveling the playing field for makers on Product Hunt.

As part of that effort, randomizing the leaderboard for the first two hours of the day is something we’ve been testing. This two-hour period gives all products a chance to climb the ranks before votes start to lock in the leaderboard.

It’s been a month since we enabled the test and the results are exciting. The median number of votes per product in the first two hours has doubled. Yes, doubled. This has created a level playing field for all makers at the beginning of the day. We’re planning to expand the randomization period to four hours (from 12AM - 4AM PST), starting 4/21, to see what further improvements we can make on the ranking system.

We have a few words to share

If you’re new here (or just want a refresher) check out our new Maker Learning Series. The playlist includes 9 videos recorded by the Product Hunt team to walk you through how to get started and our best tips for makers in ~30 minutes.

Your profile got some new bling!

We’re celebrating your latest achievements - you should too. The most exciting way to view your badges and keep up with your progress? Our mobile app. Don’t forget the to add the Product Hunt streak widget to your home screen so you start racking up your gone streaking badges of honor.

Topic evolution

There are some exciting changes happening to the topic pages. The current design changes are the first of many, as we’re restructuring the topic taxonomy and figuring out how to surface the best products based on community input.

Everyone has a type

New questions on the launch workflow are available to answer so we can understand a bit more about your story. As we collect more of this information, we aim to feature new types of launches - for example, launches from solo makers.

We <3 our makers!

We have a ton of collective knowledge to share with makers and wanted to find better ways to make sure that valuable information reaches them. So we’ve introduced three new resources for makers in the past two weeks:

• Community hours 2.0: If you're new here, looking to build community, or wanting some feedback on your launch sign up here. We're transitioning to GROUP sessions to learn from each other and to make sure we can meet with more people.

• Maker's blog: We’ve expanded this section of our site to include maker tips in addition to sharing maker stories with the community. More tips will be added here weekly.

• Maker’s newsletter: Sent bi-weekly to makers’ inboxes with the following segments:

  • ✨ The changelog: Latest platform updates
  • 📣 Announcements & news: Exclusive opportunities and insights
  • 🛠 Tips & tools: Valuable insights for successful launches
  • 🤝 Get connected: Find like-minded makers and collaborators
  • 📚 Resources: Curated articles and expert advice

Discover products in popular topics

We updated the main nav to highlight some of our most popular topics. This is the first step to bringing more visibility to the best products in each category. Keep an eye out for completely redesigned topics pages coming in the next few weeks.

Getting reviews front and center

Hard earned reviews were pretty hard to find (buried in Product Hubs) for products with repeat launches. Now, there’s a tab right on the launch page where viewers can participate in launch discussions and read past reviews to get the full picture.

We’re asking you to review products that you actually use

We adjusted the card logic to show you relevant products that are added to your stack. Reminder: reviews are essential bits of information to help makers validate or improve their products and the rest of the community make informed decisions. Showing your support here is huge!

Our mobile apps are serving up some recommendations

New friends and new products based on your upvotes and follows. We love that for you.

Every once in a while, when you upvote a launch, we’ll serve you related products that you might also want to know about.

You now have the option to follow the makers behind products you love with one single button, so you can keep up with their work.

Spam announcement

Some of you have shared your frustrations lately about sketchy upvotes, spammers soliciting their services, and bot or AI-generated comments on the site. We hear you. Keeping our community authentic and preventing cheaters has been top of mind and something we’ve been working on for awhile behind the scenes. In the interest of being more upfront about the other steps we’re taking, we want to share a few new developments we’ve been working on behind the scenes.:

• Homepage ranking -- We have and will continue to make adjustments to the homepage algorithm to quarantine and disqualify inauthentic or bot-like voting behavior. Recent work by the engineering team has helped us create better moderation tools and programmatic detection, dramatically improving spam detection. Disqualification applies to everyone so if you’re unsure as to what counts as cheating (buying votes is a big no no), read up on our community guidelines.
• Homepage randomization -- Starting tomorrow, March 24, 2023, we are testing a randomized homepage from 12:00 - 2:00 AM PT, so more products have a distributed chance at exposure early on in their launch day.
• Trust and verification -- (aka prove you’re not a robot) - There are more ways to verify your account and therefore legitimize your contributions.
• Moderation -- We doubled staffing for our human moderation team to ensure bots are flagged quickly and don’t impact the homepage rankings.
• Community empowerment -- An ai-specific flag has been added to the “report” button so you can flag any bot-generated comments.

Read our full announcement

Hubs re-design

The main purpose of Product Hubs is to give visitors the information they need so that they decide to try the product. Because of that we’ve redesigned Hubs to 1.) make the visit website button more prominent 2.) summarize important information in the sidebar and 3.) make it easier for Hub admins to manage their page.

Turn your comment into a review

The only thing that is better than supporting makers by sharing your experience with their product on the launch page, is turning that comment into a review that will live on their Product Hub forever. You already did the work by typing out your thoughtful comment - just add some stars and it becomes a review. Makers everywhere are saying, “thank you.”

LinkedIn integration

LinkedIn has been added as an additional login method for both web and the mobile apps.

One of the many ways we’re combating inauthentic contributions is by helping legitimate users look more legitimate. By linking your accounts and adding your job title and company to your profile, this information will be displayed under reviews you leave, making them more credible and valuable to makers and the community.

Testimonial embed

Hey makers! 👋 Already have great reviews on your Product Hubs that you’d like to share? There’s a new embed. You can pick and choose your favorite reviews and generate your own custom testimonial wall to share on your website. Get the code by going to your Product Hub > clicking “More” > clicking “Embed.”

Product Hub designs

Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed a few recent design changes to Product Hubs. Expect more changes in the coming weeks that will make it easier for visitors to find the qualitative information they’re looking for and help makers acquire more users.

To summarize the changes so far:

1. “Visit website” button is shown first
2. Popular reviews are more prominent and replaced the “new launches” section
3. Alternative products replaced trending/related products in the sidebar

PH API

PSA - Product Hunt API 1.0 will be decommissioned on March 31, 2023. If you have applications built on 1.0, check out the documentation for 2.0, and switch over as soon as possible to avoid a disconnect.

Chrome extension

This week we launched our new Chrome extension on Product Hunt and got some awesome feedback from the community about what people love and a few things that we can make even better.

If you missed it, here are some highlights. The extension gives you a way to quickly discover bite-sized trends, top launches of the day, and past launches by filtering by your favorite topics. Now there are discussions and maker stories you can browse as well!

The update includes a few ways to personalize your tab including:

• Toggle between list view and grid view
• Light mode and dark mode
• Display your most visited sites
• Connected to your Product Hunt account to show your current streak

Productivity and AI newsletters

Backed by popular demand, we introduced two additional weekly newsletters to get you the latest and greatest of Productivity and AI in your inbox each week. Anyone can subscribe (no PH account required). If you like it, recommend it to your friends!

What you can expect:

Productivity Newsletter

• Get better at using common apps and tools
• Top productivity tools and how to use them
• Tips from the most productive people you know
• Weekly on Fridays

AI Newsletter

• Discover AI tools for work and personal life
• Learn how AI is solving problems and effecting industries
• Get answers to your curious questions
• Weekly on Tuesdays

Product questions and answers

Answer new product-related questions to unlock the answers from other users. If you don’t want to play (PTSD to PE class anyone?), that’s fine. You can stand on the sideline and wait ‘til answers are released the following week. It’s a great way to build your stack, check your friends' answers, and research tools you may have missed - all curated by the PH community.

Profile updates

Let the Product Hunt community get to know you a little better by adding your job title and company to your profile. This information will show under your reviews, making them more credible, and helping others make better buying decisions.

Review embed

Makers - all your hard work deserves some credit. We added a new embed you can unlock once you get 5 or more reviews on your Product Hub! Once it’s unlocked, it’s a great stamp of approval from the PH community to add to your website.

Community Hours

These are 15 minute long 1:1 virtual sessions designed to help answer any questions you may have about Product Hunt as you prepare to launch.

Here are just a few of the benefits you'll get when you sign up for Community Hours:

• Personalized feedback from our community team
• 1:1 support to answer any questions
• Guidance on how to improve your launch
• A supportive community member ready to cheer you on

Product Hunt Maker Groups

We’re trying something new to help you build community on Product Hunt. We have a blank canvas and want to know what you’re looking for. Whether you’re looking for launch support, beta-testers, design feedback, your new co-founder, or other people with similar interests in your region to plan fun events with, the opportunity for Maker Groups is endless. Fill out this form to express interest or suggest your idea for a small community-focused group.

Reminder: If you solve problems with technology… you’re a maker!

Marketplace

Product Hunt Marketplace lists deals on tools like Pipedrive, Unbounce, Quickbooks, Remotebase and Fibery that help businesses grow, find talent, manage finances, and more. Deals include free trials, discounted subscriptions, and up to $5,000 credits - all free to redeem. For those that have used Founder Club in the past - you might be wondering how this is different. Marketplace deals are completely free to redeem and access to all “pro deals” are available for a one-time, lifetime purchase.

To list your own deals on Product Hunt Marketplace and attract new customers, read this article or contact us.

Build your product stack

Collect the products you use and share them publicly with others through your profile. By clicking “I use this” on a product, it will add that product to your stack.

If you don’t have an Ember mug yet, seriously get one.

Review filters

Finding new products on Product Hunt is always exciting - but sometimes you have to go through a lot of work before figuring out if it’s what you’re looking for or not. We’re working on getting better reviews so that your future decisions are made with ease. Adding filters is one small improvement we’ve shipped so you can use tags and stars to find the most helpful reviews.

Manage your products & launches

My products now lets you easily see all your products and launches (draft, scheduled, and posted) in one place for simple management. If you missed the memo about why you should care about your product after launch day, read more here.

Self service ads

Product Hubs have a new promote tab that houses tools for makers to continue finding new customers on Product Hunt after launch day. Hub members can access self service ads from this page to run campaigns that expand their reach to a thousands of tech users and buyers daily. Follow these steps to use self service ads or learn more about advertising on Product Hunt.

Comment prompts

Me: “I love this product and want to contribute some helpful feedback.”

Also me: “Congrats on the launch!”

Makers can now add a prompt on their launch post to help kickstart the conversation and specify the types of feedback they are looking for. Here’s a great example of how this new tool can be used.

Congrats to all the Golden Kitty Award winners, finalists, and nominees! Don’t miss the Hall of Fame. Pro tip - it’s really fun to watch the winners revealed in the mobile app! Download if you're wondering what 'Jazzy French' sounds like…🎷🥐

Comment awards

One of the reasons we love our community so much is that genuine feedback is not hard to come by. Now, you can get recognized by makers for your helpful suggestions, finds, and witty comments.

Makers - we encourage you to hand out these awards (3 per launch) and share the love with your supporters. Do so by reviewing your launch post comments and clicking “award” on the ones you’d like to highlight.

The Golden Kitty Awards

If you’re new here, you may not have heard about our favorite event every year, which is basically like the Oscars of Tech. The Golden Kitty Awards are voted on by the community to celebrate the best products and makers each year.

How it works: You nominate products in each of the categories from now through Friday, January 13, at 11:59pm PT. Then on Monday, January 16, you’ll start voting for finalists in each category.

In total, there are 24 categories, which you can nominate and vote for who you’d like to take home a reimagined, sleek kitty trophy.

Keep in mind: Products you nominate need to have launched in 2022.

Product Hunt Rewind

2022 will go down in history as the year everyone did their own version of Spotify Wrapped - so in the highest form of flattery, we did it as well. The fun backstory is that Product Hunt Rewind was an idea born from our internal Hackathon where the small team of engineers, designers, and marketers built this experience in nearly 1 week and took home their own Golden Kitty.

Get your Rewind to see and share your stats from 2022! If you already have the Product Hunt mobile app installed, make sure you’re on the latest version to see your Rewind. And thanks for all the love from those that already shared!