What does “filtered” mean?

A post that matched the keyword but did not make it to the inbox: the name was part of another word, the post meant something else, it was spam, or it fell below the relevance threshold. FishOut keeps it in a Filtered view with the reason.

My name is a dictionary word. Now what?

Give the keyword a Means and it is usually fine — most posts that say “linear” are about algebra, and one line of context is enough for the relevance check to tell them apart. If the volume is huge, monitor the domain or handle instead.

A one-line description on a FishOut keyword of what the term refers to — “Linear, the issue tracker”. Triage reads every match against it, so it is the cheapest fix for a name with a second meaning.

Will FishOut charge me for noise?

No. Only posts that pass AI triage and reach your inbox count toward relevant mentions. Filtered noise never counts. A keyword with more than 200 filtered posts in a day is slowed to a daily check rather than billed.

Why only Hacker News and Bluesky?

Both answer quickly and return post text we can judge, which a noise check needs. GitHub and Google News are counted in the mention checker.

Is your brand name a bad keyword?

Some names are terrible keywords: Linear, Notion, Arc, Mercury. Check yours against a week of Hacker News and Bluesky and get a verdict on the same scale FishOut acts on, with the fix if it needs one.

Live checks are not switched on yet. The result below is a real one, captured on the date shown.

“Linear” · keyword checkSample · 20 Oct 2026

Fine, once FishOut knows what it means

The name is also an ordinary word or too short to stand alone. Give the keyword a Means — one line on what it refers to — and triage reads every match against it.

The name is an everyday English word

Whole-word share: 77%
Judged relevant: —
Filtered per day: ~9 of 200

More specific spellings

Linear applinear.com@linear

Hacker Newsanswered121

whole-word, of 171 raw matches · 4 stories · 67 comments read

Blueskynewest 100 only83+

whole-word, of 100 raw matches · en 71 · ru 1 · uk 1 · de 1

Watch your own keywords free

[01] HOW THE COUNT IS MADE/ METHOD

Whole-word share

Of the posts each search returned, how many contain the name as a whole word. A low share means the search engine is matching a different word; FishOut’s ingest rule drops those before anything else happens.

Judged relevance

Up to ten matching posts are read by the same relevance questions FishOut’s onboarding uses — is this about the product, does it mean the term — with your “what it means” line as the brief. When the daily AI budget is spent, the verdict uses counts alone and says so.

Filtered posts per day

Raw matches per day, minus the share that would pass both checks. FishOut slows a keyword to a daily check after a day with more than 200 filtered posts, so this number is the one that decides whether a name can be monitored hourly.

Shape of the name

Three characters or fewer, an everyday English word, or only digits: each is flagged before any search runs, because each matches ordinary sentences no matter how famous the brand is.

[02] WHAT TO DO WITH THE NUMBER/ TRIAGE

Noise is free in FishOut — but it still costs you attention

Posts filtered out never count toward a plan. They still sit in a Filtered view with a reason, and a keyword that fills it with 200 a day is slowed to daily. The fix is almost always one line of context or two exclude words, which is what the verdict suggests. How relevance works.

Filtered14 relevant kept

Linear algebra done right, 4th edition

Different meaning

Non-linear storytelling in games is back

Different meaning

Linear regression from scratch in Rust

Different meaning

TeachRelevant after allNot for usMute

[03] STEP BY STEP/ 5 STEPS

Check the bare name

Start with the name exactly as people write it. This is the worst case, and the verdict tells you how bad it is.

Add what it means

One line — “the issue tracker for software teams” — is what FishOut’s Means field takes. Re-check and watch the relevant share move.

Add the exclude words it suggests

Words that keep appearing in the posts judged off-topic, and never in the relevant ones. In FishOut they go in the keyword’s exclude list.

Try a more specific spelling

If the name would trip the noise guard, check a variant: the name plus “app”, the domain, or the handle.

Track the version that passed

Watch it free with the Means already filled in, and FishOut reads every match against it from the first hour.

[04] THE SAME CHECK, EVERY HOUR/ IN THE PRODUCT

Where the noise goes in the product

Every keyword in FishOut has a Means, exclude words and a must-also-mention list, and the keywords screen shows how much each one filtered. New keywords backfill 2 days on Free, 30 on Plus, 60 on Pro and 90 on Business.

[05] FREE TOOL, OR A MONITOR?/ COMPARED

This checker, FishOut Free, or F5Bot’s AI filter?

F5Bot added AI filtering for exactly this problem. It is worth knowing how the two approaches differ before you choose.

What the AI decides: This free toolRelevant or not, on a sampleFishOut FreeRelevance 0–100 with reasons, labels and sentimentF5BotMatch or no match against your description [source]
What filtering costs: This free toolFreeFishOut FreeIncluded; filtered noise never counts toward a planF5BotBilled on top of the plan beyond $10 of tokens a month [source]
Free tier: This free toolNo signupFishOut Free10 keywordsF5Bot5 keywords, 20 alerts a day [source]
Lobste.rs coverage: This free toolNoFishOut FreeNoF5BotYes [source]

This free tool, FishOut Free and F5Bot, compared
	This free tool	FishOut Free	F5Bot
What the AI decides	Relevant or not, on a sample	Relevance 0–100 with reasons, labels and sentiment	Match or no match against your description [source]
What filtering costs	Free	Included; filtered noise never counts toward a plan	Billed on top of the plan beyond $10 of tokens a month [source]
Free tier	No signup	10 keywords	5 keywords, 20 alerts a day [source]
Lobste.rs coverage	No	No	Yes [source]