After some time — actually, a few years (the previous article) — I decided to check what LinkedIn is up to in regard to browser plugins, which LinkedIn views with concern.
LinkedIn's apprehension towards certain plugins stems from the immense value of its data, which encompasses detailed profiles of its users. Essentially, LinkedIn operates as a vast database of individual profiles, and it zealously guards this information. This protective stance has become even more critical in the era of generative AI, as data companies have recognized the indispensable role of data in training machine learning algorithms. Without the wealth of data from sources like Wikipedia, Reddit, and the broader Internet, tools like GPT would be akin to empty neural networks. With data becoming increasingly valuable for these new applications, LinkedIn's vigilance is understandable.
After some time—actually, a few years—I decided to check what LinkedIn is up to in regard to browser plugins, which LinkedIn views with concern.
LinkedIn's apprehension towards certain plugins stems from the immense value of its data, which encompasses detailed profiles of its users. Essentially, LinkedIn operates as a vast database of individual profiles, and it zealously guards this information. This protective stance has become even more critical in the era of generative AI, as data companies have recognized the indispensable role of data in training machine learning algorithms. Without the wealth of data from sources like Wikipedia, Reddit, and the broader Internet, tools like GPT would be akin to empty neural networks. With data becoming increasingly valuable for these new applications, LinkedIn's vigilance is understandable.
Despite modern web browsers' privacy settings, websites like LinkedIn.com cannot directly detect which browser plugins users have installed. However, they can indirectly infer the presence of certain plugins or extensions through various methods:
- Behavior-Based Detection: Websites may execute scripts to identify behaviors indicative of certain plugins. For instance, if an ad blocker prevents page elements from loading as expected, LinkedIn might deduce its presence.
- Feature Detection: LinkedIn can also check for features or APIs introduced by certain extensions. If the site's scripts can interact with these features, it may suggest the presence of specific plugins.
- Content Modification: Plugins that alter website content in detectable ways, such as adding unique styles or elements, can also hint at their presence to observant websites.
- Extension Web Accessible Resources: Some extensions offer web-accessible resources that can be loaded by websites knowing the resource URLs, which include the extension's ID. While this method could theoretically allow LinkedIn to detect an extension, it requires prior knowledge of the extension's specific resource URLs, making it an indirect approach.
Interestingly, the landscape of LinkedIn-related plugins continues to evolve, with a notable rise in AI-focused plugins. This development reflects the broader trend of integrating AI into tools previously categorized under different niches, such as prospecting, thereby rebranding them as AI-powered solutions.
Furthermore, the list of plugins under scrutiny has expanded significantly—from 83 a few years ago to 461 now—highlighting an increasing concern over a wider array of plugins that may include LinkedIn automation tools, outreach plugins, email finders, sales prospecting plugins, scraping tools, and more.
Below, I provide an alphabetically sorted list of all plugins detected in network communication when accessing LinkedIn.com.
10XTribe
4Degrees for Chrome
6sense SI Extension for Chrome
Accountstory - B2B Intel, Org Charts & Emails
Ad Library downloader
Affinity Pathfinder
Agile CRM
Agorapulse
AI assistant for Linkedin
AI ChatGPT Lead Generation For LinkedIn™
AI Commects & Replies for Facebook
AI Content Detector for ChatGPT - Sapling.ai
AI Headshot Generator for Social Media
AI LinkedIn Helper
AI Social Media Post Generator - LinkedIn™
Aidentified Sidecar
AiTou: H1B Visa Sponsor Checker
Allied Business Network Deal Notifier
Amplemarket
Amplifeed: Amplify Your Brand on LinkedIn
anaba pour LinkedIn
Apollo.io: Find B2B Contact Info for Free
Armageddon-Salesforce LinkedIn Checker
Assistlead
AuthoredUp – No. 1 LinkedIn ™ Content Tool
AuthorityOverlay
Autobound (ChatGPT for sales emails)
Autocomplete for LinkedIn
Autopilot for LinkedIn
B2Brain
Banner Generator Linkedin
Bardeen AI: Automate Browser Apps for Free
Beamery Extension
Betterleap
Bing Chat: Chat GPT
BizWik
Blog2Social: Social Media Poster Extension
Blueticks
Bondli
Bonzo Absolute
Brandengine.ai
Bravado Warm Intros - Get Paid on LinkedIn
Bridge
Briskine: Email templates for Gmail™
Browserflow - Web Scraping & Web Automation
C'est Vrai Ça ? Checkez les posts linkedin
Careerflow AI LinkedIn Optimization and more
CB Insights
chadGPT
ChatFox - OpenAI ChatGPT for IG & TW & LI
ChatGPT for LinkedIn
ChatGPT Free Chat GPT4 AI by WriteGPT
ChatSonic - ChatGPT with super powers
Cheat Layer
CherryPick: Master Your LinkedIn Network
ChitChat - Search with ChatGPT
CIBN Connect
Circle of Trust
Claro Analytics Job Seeking Sonar™
CleanUp Social Media Ads
Clearbit Connect: Free, Verified B2B Emails
ClearMash.Chrome.Client
Cleverlead
Clientify Prospector
ClientPoint
Cliquify
Clodura.AI - Free Email & Direct-Dial Finder
Closely: Email Finder & LI Data Scraper
Cloze Sidebar for CRM
CoffeeAI: Hyper-Personalized Sales Emails
Cognism - Premium Sales Intelligence
Collaborate.to
Comeet Sourcing for Chrome
Comment Assistant In LinkedIn With ChatGPT
Comment Export for LinkedIn™️
CommenTron
Company Employees Export for LinkedIn™️
Connect The Dots
ConnectGenie - Linkedin AI Assistant
Connections Export for LinkedIn™️
ContactBook - Contacts extractor
Content Ninja Suggest
ConvergeHub Lead Generator
Coral Starfish
Course Reviews Export for LinkedIn™️
Create Odoo leads from LinkedIn
Crew for LinkedIn
CRM and Inbox for LinkedIn
CRM Integration with LinkedIn for Salesforce
Crono
Crunchbase - B2B Company & Contact Info
Crystal
CV AI Builder - LinkedIn Profile Optimization
CvToBe
Dashed AI
Datagenie
Datagma
Datanyze Chrome Extension
Datenly x SalesConnect - Prospection Linkedin
DealFlow Outreach - LinkedIn Automation
Dealfront Connect
DeftGPT - AI Chat GPT Writing Companion
Demand: LinkedIn Email Finder + B2B Contacts
Demandbase (ABX Cloud)
Discoverly
DiscoverOrg Sales Intelligence
Distraction free for Linkedin™
Dooly
Dream100.Ai
DynaSource for Jobvite
Easy Note Taking for LinkedIn
EasySource: #1 Platform for Talent Sourcing
Eazybe: Best WhatsApp™ Web CRM with ChatGPT
ElayGPT
Email Finder - GetProspect
Email Finder & Email Hunter - GMPlus
Email Finder & Phone Enrichment - Clearout
Email Finder by Anymailfinder
Email Finder by ContactOut. Linkedin automation and email extractor.
Email Finder by Leadzen.ai | Get B2B Contacts
Email Finder-Kendo Sourcing Ninja
Emoji Keyboard Copy & Paste for Chrome
Engage AI - ChatGPT for Social Media
Entelo
Esferas.io
Estim8.ai — shows current salary on Linkedin
Event Attendees Export for LinkedIn™️
Extrin
EZ Pipeline
EZLead
Eztrackr - Supercharge your job hunt
F1 Hire - Job Analyzer, H1B Checker, more
Facebook & LinkedIn Connector
fetch: unlimited LinkedIn email finding
FinalScout - ChatGPT-Driven LinkedIn Emails
Find Emails + Cell Phone Numbers in Seconds
Find WhatsApp Link - Group Invite Link
Find WhatsApp Link - Group Invite Link
FindThatLead - Email Finder Extension
FindThatLead 2.0
Findymail - Email Finder & Scraper
Firefish Chrome Extension for LinkedIn
Flamingo for LinkedIn
FlashInfo - Business Insights & Contacts
FlowQ - Talent Pick
FlyMSG: AI Writer & Autofill Text Expander
folkX
Follow
Follow Export for LinkedIn™️
Free B2B Contact Info by AroundDeal
FrontTip
FullEnrich—Scrape LinkedIn, Find Email &Phone
FutureWrite AI for Writing & More w/ ChatGPT
Get your Linkedin family on Coffeee.io
GHLinkedin Connector
Gigflow
GlobalDatabase: B2B Emails & Sales Automation
Gopher
GP - LinkedIn & Facebook Groups Auto Poster
GPT Sidebar - Search with ChatGPT
Greenhouse Recruiting Chrome extension
Group Export for LinkedIn™️
Group Message Sender for LinkedIn™️
Hashtag Analytics by Engage AI
Hide LinkedIn Ads
Hide n' Seek: Hide Promoted Jobs & Companies
hireEZ for Chrome - Find and Engage Anyone, Anywhere.
Hirefox - Send faster LinkedIn messages
HireSweet
Hiring Opportunities for LinkedIn™ to CSV
How to Export Contact from LinkedIn - Leadboot
Hubflo Clipper
Hublead
Hubris
Human Circles AI: Easy networking with Gen AI
Humanlinker
Humantic AI
Hundred Handshakes
HyperClapper
HyperClapper - Engagement Tool with Chat GPT
i CRM for LinkedIn
IceWriter AI LinkedIn® Message Generator
iClickats Talent Booster
Inchwormdata - LinkedIn Automation Tool
InCognito
inCreator
Inside UP
Insply
InstaApply
InstaNote: Download and Save Video for IG
InTouchApp Phone Contacts & Data Saver
InTouchApp Phone Contacts & Data Saver
Job Explorer
JobGenie
Jobs Filterer for LinkedIn
Jobtoolz Sourcing
Kanbox, Linkedin Automation and CRM
Kaspr : Get Anyone's Phone Numbers and Emails
Klarity
Kleo
Kloser - Find B2B Contact info with one click
Know Who's Who on Social Media with Favikon
Kontax
LazyApply : Job Application Bot
Lead Assistant
Lead Exporter for Sales Navigator
LeadCRM | integrate Web with CRM
Leadfwd.app: B2B Prospecting and Outreach
LeadGenius
LeadGenius - Auto Connect Tool
LeadIQ: Contact Data in One Click
LeadLoft Prospector
LeadRocks for LinkedIn: Profiles Scanner
LEADS Comments
Leads Duck - LinkedIn made easy - Local
Leads Extractor - Social Media
Leads.Garden connect
Leadsourcing - ChatGPT for LinkedIn
Leadster
lemlist
LemonRecruiter
Leonar
LI Email Finder (100% FREE) & Group Scraper
Likers Export for LinkedIn™️
Linbox
Linckr
LinComment
Link4Free
Linkalyze
Linked Assist - LinkedIn Automation Tool
Linked Booster - Social Automation Tool
Linked CRM
LinkedBuddy
LinkedGPT: ChatGPT for LinkedIn
LinkedIn AI Bot
LinkedIn Auto Connect Tool - LeadRadar
Linkedin Automate
LinkedIn Automation By Leadzen.ai
Linkedin Better Connections
LinkedIn Bookmark and Save Button
LinkedIn Comment Generator
LinkedIn Competitor Post Tracker by Datakudo
Linkedin connect
LinkedIn Email Finder & Lead Generation Tool
LinkedIn Email Finder by Emailchaser
LinkedIn Job Tools
LinkedIn Poll Extractor
Linkedin Profile Scraper
Linkedin Profile Scrapper Tool
LinkedIn Quick Replies
LinkedIn Review by automix.ai
LinkedIn US H1B Sponsor Tracker
LinkedIn Video Downloader
Linkedin Video Grabber
LinkedIn Years of Experience Checker
LinkedPin
LinkedRadar - Automate LinkedIn Messaging
LinkedRadar - LinkedIn Automation Tool
LinkLion
LinkOff - Filter and Customizer for LinkedIn™
Linkzen: integrate LinkedIn with Zendesk Sell
Linvo
Lipcat
Listly - Free Data Scraper, Extractor
Lix - B2B Scraper, Email Finder & API
LKDIN Scraper & Email Finder | LeadStal
Longlist Sourcing Extension
Lusha - Easily find B2B contact information
Magic by Breakcold - Social Selling CRM
Magical: AI Writer & Autofill Text Expander
Mailmo - Email Finder for Linkedin
Mailshake
Mailstrike - Email Finder & Linkedin Scraper
Mato.ai: Write Relevant B2B Sales Outreach
meetergo
Merlin: 1-click access to Powerful AI Plugins
MicroWave for LinkedIN
Mixmax for Google Chrome
MobiCRM
Mogul Recruiter
My Leads Box
My Most Trusted Network
n-crm: Notion CRM sync with LinkedIn
Name Lookup
NetHunt CRM for LinkedIn
No LinkedIn News
NoteGPT: YouTube & Web Summary with ChatGPT
Office Ink - Comment and Post with AI
OneClick: Job Tracker for LinkedIn and Indeed
OneMob - More Engagement with Free Microsites
Open AI ChatGPT for Email - GMPlus
Open Yellow Pages - a world of Open Contacts
OpenQ B2B User Research Recruiting Extension
Ordemio
Outboundly - Prospecting & Cold Outreach AI
Outplay Connect
Outreach Optimization on LinkedIn & Gmail
OutreachAI
OutreachGenius
OutreachWalrus: Automator for Linkedin
Outworks AI
PayPredict by Figures
Penknife
People To Notion
PeopleSmart - Find B2B Emails & Phone Numbers
PerfectPost: makes Linkedin 10x better
Persana: AI on LinkedIn & B2B Contact Info
Personio Active Sourcing
Personoly
PhantomBuster
Phenom Real-time CRM
PipeGen.ai Contact Retriever
PipeLaunch: LinkedIn™ Salesforce Integration
PitchGPT
Piwaa
Podawaa - Get more Engagement on LinkedIn
Poked - LinkedIn CRM and Messaging for Pros
Poll Votes Export for LinkedIn™️
Pop up blocker for Chrome™ - Poper Blocker
Power Search for LinkedIn
Prentus Job Search Tracker & Auto-Fill
Profile to Resume - Rezi.ai
Prosp
ProspectDaddy Email Finder
Prospeo - Email Finder
Psychological AI
Quicklead: LinkedIn Automation Tool
Quiklist - Quickly build B2B contact lists
QuillBot: AI Writing and Grammar Checker Tool
Rebelliuz PRO
Recap.work
recruitivity
Recruitly
Recruitment management system, 100Hires ATS
RemotelyMe AI Linkedin Profile Assessment App
Reply: Email Finder and Outreach
Replyio.com - AI Response Generator Chatgpt
Resonaid
Responsive CV: Resume Maker from LinkedIn
Restaurantology: Foodservice Insight Database
RevDriver by SalesIntel
Reverse Contact
RevertGPT - Quickly Insert Text Anywhere
RightBound Connector
Rio: Digitálny asistent s podporou OpenAI ChatGPT
RocketReach Chrome Extension
S3URL
Saalz
Salee - AI-Driven Network Sales Success
Sales Linked Automation | SmartReach
Sales Simplify
Sales Stack - Audience Engager
Sales Stack - Lead Engager
Sales XL: Automated LinkedIn Prospecting
Salesflare: Email Finder & LinkedIn/Gmail CRM
SalesHelper for LinkedIn
SalesPrompter | ChatGPT™ for LinkedIn™
Salesqualify
SalesRobot
SalesSeek CRM for Chrome
Salesxporter
Scanlist: Email Finder & Sales Copy Generator
ScopTalent
Scout - AI Sales Prospecting
Scrab.in - LinkedIn Prospecting Tool
SDR-GPT
Seamless.AI
Search Export for LinkedIn™️(People+Company)
Seekho AI InterviewPro
Selling.com
SellInsights LinkedIn Extension
Semrush Social Media Poster
Seternity Mail
Showpad for Chrome
SignalHire - find email or phone number
Similarweb Sales Extension
Sken.io Web Monitor
Slik Prospector
SmartSOCIAL NXT
Snippyly Collaborate on any page
Social Digest for LinkedIn
Social Insights for Google and LinkedIn
Social Insights for Salesforce and LinkedIn
Social Link
Social Magic - Supercharge Your LinkedIn
Social Media Bot. Auto Clicker Growbot.
Social Post Mate (Commenter AI partner)
SocialHire Chrome Extension
SocialInbox #1 LinkedIn CRM + AI Powered
SocialPilot
SoContact : Get Phone Numbers and Emails
Soundboard
Sourcd: #1 LinkedIn Tool For Recruiters
Sperse LinkedIn Connector
Springboard JobTracker
Sprouts Engage: Sales Engagement on LinkedIn
Star Finder
Summary with ChatGPT for Google and YouTube
Superpowers for LinkedIn
SuperReach: Sales, hiring and prospecting
SUPERSELL'IN
Surfe
TACQ AI | Linkedin Prospecting
TACQ AI | Linkedin Prospecting
TACQ AI | Linkedin Prospecting
Tagbird
Tagli
Talent Acquisition Extension
TalentSearch -- Top pick for recruiters
TalentSearch is #1 Chrome plugin for HR
Talking Head®
Taplio X
Tappy - Your AI LinkedIn Comments Assistant
Teal - Free Job Search & Contacts Tracker
Teamfeed.ai - Lead your team on social
Technology Profiler by SimplyTrends.co
Telegram Channels - TG Channel Link Search
Telegram Group and Channel Search Tool
Templify – write messages in 1 click!
Text Blaze: Templates and Snippets
Textio for Chrome
Think Bricks - ChatGPT for Sales
Toby for Linkedin
TouchBase
Tracker for LinkedIn
Trello Linkedin Helper
Tribepad importer
Truebase
TurboHire Connect
Typebar: AI Replies for Twitter, LinkedIn
Typli.Ai
Unicat - LinkedIn GIF comment picker
UpLead - Find Emails on Websites
UProc for LinkedIn
Upscale Engage: Sales Engagement on LinkedIn
Very Fast Templates (beta)
Video Download For LinkedIn™
Visual Visitor - Easily find B2B contact info
Vtiger Enrich
Waalaxy - LinkedIn Automation Tool
WahLeads
WaLead
Wally - AI assistant powered by GPT4 & Claude
Website Technology Checker by Snov.io
Whaii Profiler
WhatsIn
WhenX: Mark Linkedin Profiles with notes
Wondershare DemoAir - Screen Recorder
Work with gpt- ChatGPT based InstantPrompt
Wowing
Wraiter - Your AI Driven LinkedIn Assistant
X0PA Recruiter Extension for LinkedIn
XHumn
XING Transfer to LinkedIn
Xprt.is
YouWorth for LinkedIn: Job & Salary Predictor
Zeliq Extension
Zixflow
ZoomInfo Chrome Extension
Zpod : Personalised Post Creator for LinkedIn
奇客大师简历采集插件 (translation: QiKe Master Resume Collection Plugin)
There might also be additional plugins that LinkedIn is interested in, particularly those installed when you access some of its premium accounts, such as LinkedIn Recruiter or LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Using some of these plugins doesn’t automatically mean your account will be suspended, especially if it’s your first warning. I regularly use some of these plugins myself, and they can be quite benign, like the Magical: AI Writer & Autofill Text Expander. However, if your outreach activity becomes suspicious or you open too many profiles, LinkedIn might investigate whether such activity is due to these plugins.
Suspicious activity can also arise from manual efforts without any plugin use. For example, one of our sources was compiling a long list of bankers for our client, which required opening over 6,000 profiles in just a few days. This led to a complete 5-day ban on his profile, with no plugins involved. Nonetheless, the use of certain plugins, especially those related to scraping and automation, is against LinkedIn's User Agreement:
8.2.2 Develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plugins and add-ons or any other technology) to scrape the Services or otherwise copy profiles and other data from the Services;
Don’t get me wrong—I love LinkedIn. But that doesn’t mean I’m not curious about what’s happening behind the scenes.
Good luck with LinkedIn!
Follow me on LinkedIn for more updates.
--josé
Author of HR ROBO SAPIENS: Decoding Artificial Intelligence for Modern Recruitment and HR Marketing
