Do you think Product Hunt should verify domain ownership for submitted products? 😄
Product Hunt is great for discovery 🚀, but sometimes there are concerns about authenticity and trust 🤔 when products are submitted by people not affiliated with them.
Would verifying domain ownership (e.g., via email or DNS) help ensure that only legitimate makers or teams can submit a product? ✅ Or would it add too much friction to the launch process? 🧱
Curious to hear what this amazing community thinks! 🙌💡
Replies
That defeats the original premise of Product Hunt.
Many tools that I hunt on Product Hunt are not mine. But I find them interesting so I share it with the community.
Product "Hunt" means hunting products you discovered and you find interesting.
Only verified makers get access to Product Pages that's were authentication is already in place. If you have alternate suggestions, feel free to share with the community and the PH team. :)
@rohanrecommends Totally agree that discovery by hunters is a key part of what makes Product Hunt special. I’m just exploring whether optional domain verification for makers could add trust, especially when a launch is being shared by both hunters and the team. One of the makers could verify domain ownership to show it's legit, without adding friction for hunters. What are your thoughts on this approach?
@rohanrecommends
That’s true!
However, my impression is that platforms will evolve toward having only Makers publish their products — just a guess based on trends I’ve been noticing :)
@borja_diazroig it'd be great to see some real stats on that. Maybe @mikekerzhner can run some numbers and validate or invalidate the trends you've been noticing. 😉
Verifying domain ownership could make Product Hunt more trustworthy. It would help ensure that products are submitted by their real creators.
Purposeful Poop
interesting suggestion. I think one thing this conflicts with is the "hunter" mechanic. i.e it isnt actually the case that the person submitting the product is related to it.
I think one of the original intentions behind product hunt was "woah look at this cool thing i just found"
over time it sort of morphed into the majority of cases being people intentionally launching their product.
@catt_marroll Thanks for sharing that perspective. I completely agree that the “hunter” mechanic is a core part of what makes Product Hunt unique and exciting. The idea of discovering and sharing cool things you find is really powerful.
My suggestion is more about adding a layer of clarity and trust when the launch is by the actual product team, without taking away from the open discovery aspect. So hunters could still freely share anything interesting, but when a product is officially launched by its makers, domain verification could help confirm authenticity and reduce confusion.
It’s definitely a balancing act between openness and trust, and I’m curious how others feel about finding that sweet spot.
It would add infinity friction for hunters such as myself.
Domains were historically how Product Hunt identified products, but it's not a perfect solution.
For example, if I launch a Raycast extension (e.g. Product Hunt for Raycast) in the Raycast store, the URL of my launch starts with raycast.com. I wouldn't be able to verify ownership of that domain, so would that mean I couldn't launch?
Great convo starter authenticity is the currency of trust, especially in early adoption. Domain-level verification could absolutely help filter noise, but the launch magic often lives in speed and spontaneity. Maybe a lightweight badge system for verified makers could balance credibility and flexibility?
Pro: Absolutely. PH gets cloaked with tons of ai produced copy cats.
Contra: Adding verification could unintentionally gatekeep the plattform.