Judge.me

Overview

Judge.me is a product reviews app for Shopify stores that provides verified purchase reviews, photo and video uploads, star rating widgets, review carousels, and review syndication to Google Shopping, Facebook, and Instagram. It competes with Yotpo and Stamped.io as a cost-effective reviews solution for Shopify merchants, offering a generous free tier. Judge.me integrates natively with Shopify's checkout flow to trigger post-purchase review invitation emails automatically.

What This Script Does

Judge.me loads its widget script (cdn.judge.me/widget/v1/judgeme.js) on Shopify storefront pages where review display or collection is configured. The script is initialized with the shop's API key as a parameter.

Widget functionality:

• Product review carousels: Renders star ratings and review text on product detail pages (PDPs), pulling review content from Judge.me's CDN. Shows reviewer name, verified purchase badge, review date, star rating, and optional photo/video attachments.
• Aggregate rating badges: Displays overall star rating (e.g., 4.8/5 from 312 reviews) on collection pages, category pages, or homepages via a lightweight badge widget.
• Review request pop-ups: On stores using Judge.me's on-site review collection widget, a pop-up or embedded form appears asking customers to leave a review, typically triggered from a post-purchase email link containing a review token.
• Google Shopping syndication: Injects application/ld+json structured data (Product + AggregateRating schema) into the page DOM for Google's rich snippet crawlers. No Google pixel fires — this is markup-based.

Cookies set:

• _judgeme_session (first-party, session cookie) — maintains state for review form interactions and pop-up display
• judgeme_reviewer_[shop_id] (first-party, 365-day expiry) — stores reviewer name and email to pre-fill the review form on return visits, reducing friction for repeat reviewers

Network requests:

• Widget content fetched from cdn.judge.me
• Review submissions POST to judge.me/api/reviews
• Review invitation links resolve through judge.me/r/[token] to authenticate the reviewer

Consent & Compliance

• Category: Functional
• GDPR: Review display is functional ecommerce content. The _judgeme_session cookie is necessary for the review widget to function. The judgeme_reviewer_[shop_id] cookie stores voluntarily provided personal data (name, email) for the reviewer's own convenience — this is functional rather than tracking in nature. Review submission data (name, email, review text, photos) is personal data — the merchant's privacy policy should disclose this processing. Judge.me acts as a data processor for review content.
• CCPA: Reviewer names and email addresses are personal information but are voluntarily submitted. Cookie-based data does not involve third-party sale or sharing for advertising.
• ePrivacy: Both cookies set by Judge.me are first-party and serve the functional review experience. They do not facilitate cross-site tracking or advertising profiling.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

No. Judge.me provides core ecommerce functionality — verified review display and collection — that is directly connected to the shopping experience. It does not perform advertising, retargeting, or cross-site behavioral tracking. The cookies set are first-party and functional. Review widgets can operate under a functional or legitimate interest basis without requiring prior visitor consent.