ShovelScout is a search and monitoring service that helps businesses find people asking for products, tools, recommendations, or advice across Reddit, Hacker News, and public business and specialist forums. Rather than simply flagging when a keyword is mentioned, it labels each result to indicate what the poster appears to want, helping users identify discussions that may be relevant to their business. Results include a title, a short excerpt, and a link to the original thread; ShovelScout says it does not republish full posts, sell placement, or post on users’ behalf.

Visitors can search without signing in for up to 10 searches per day from the same IP address. Paid accounts can make up to 300 searches a day. The service also offers keyword email alerts, with new threads typically indexed within minutes and alerts able to match new comments. Free-plan users can receive up to four emails a day. ShovelScout covers a range of public communities and forums, and accepts requests for additional sources. It is run by Michael J.