ShopBack’s Justin Lee on why it let Meta’s Muse in while Amazon shut the door

What happened

It blocked Muse within 12 days of launch, complaining in part that an agent shopping for a customer bypasses the personalisation built into its store. e27 sent him ten questions on what that means for a business that earns its keep between the shopper and the merchant.

When Meta switched on Muse in Singapore last month, ShopBack was one of eight launch connectors the agent could plug into. In the US, Amazon had taken a different view.

ShopBack, a cashback platform, chose to sign up rather than shut the door. Justin Lee, its Chief Product Officer, says the web was built for people to read, not for agents to act.