Conservatives and their products face obstacles on Amazon: Ads are blocked, social networks are booted, and books are undiscoverable on the search engine or removed entirely.

Now, an alternative is on the rise: PublicSq., which brands itself as "Pro-Life, Pro-Family, Pro-Freedom," has accumulated over 1.1 million consumer users and 55,000 businesses since its launch on July 4, 2022.

"I've witnessed the need for a parallel economy for a decade now, as corporate entity after corporate entity turned against me and my family's more-traditional values," Michael Seifert, the founder and CEO of PublicSq., told National Review in an interview. "We continually felt disheartened and wondered if there were any brands that would speak to us or, at the very least, wouldn't verbally antagonize us."

PublicSq. encourages "freedom-loving Americans" to enjoy "values-aligned businesses." After high-profile conservatives advocated for boycotts of Target and other corporations that introduced Pride-themed merchandise in June, the PublicSq. app surged to the #2 shopping app and the #3 free app in Apple's App Store, while the consumer member base grew by over 300,000.

“We’re going after Amazon,” Seifert said.

Small businesses that joined PublicSq. can attest that the app provided a valuable platform. Natalie Meneses Martinez, the owner of the herbal-wellness company Naturacentric, told National Review that she saw a 20 percent increase in orders within two weeks of joining and advertising on PublicSq.

PublicSq. requires businesses joining the site to affirms its five core values: a "commitment to freedom and truth," "protect the family unit and the sanctity of every life," belief in the "greatness of this nation," and the conviction that small businesses are the "backbone of our economy" and that "government isn't the source of our rights, so it can't take them away." Businesses must further affirm that they will source as many products as possible in the United States. Then, a vetting team will conduct internet searches and interviews to verify whether the business has publicly contradicted the values.

Seifert said PublicSq. also checks for quality by ensuring that the phone numbers are live, the websites are functioning, and there are promising reviews. PublicSq. also has a feedback mechanism that allows consumers to relay their shopping experience.

“Boycotts are not enough,” Seifert told National Review. “Unto themselves, we actually don’t believe they’re as affective as if you were to completely unsubscribe from these broken and corrupt companies because you found something better.”

But while conservatives have called for boycotts, progressives have expressed their hostility toward brands and companies that defend traditional values.

Anna Person, a mechanical engineer in Ohio, launched the skin-care small business Root Apothecary in 2022, then added it to PublicSq. in May, 2023, after a conservative follower on social media suggested she join the platform.

"My products sell out in under two minutes almost every time I do a [merchandise] drop, so it's hard to know if I've gotten new customers from Public Sq[uare]," Anna told National Review.

Although her tallow skin-care products sell out within minutes, she does carry products from other small businesses that are always in stock, and she's seen a 10 percent increase in daily sales since joining PublicSq. Additionally, she saw an increase in social-media reach after joining: Her Instagram followers grew by 14 percent to total just over 9,000.

Anna's company is transparent about its values: "We believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he died on the cross for our sins," "We are unapologetically Anti-Woke, Pro-Life, Pro-Medical Freedom, Pro-2A," and "We value faith, life, family, freedom, and obviously small American businesses."

Anna said that the most controversial of those values is being pro-life, and she's received plenty of hostile messages on social media, especially after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

“I've never shied away from what I believe in, because even if you're going to lose a handful of people that are going to be nasty in your comments anyway, you might as well gain the respect of those who agree with you," she told National Review. “We have been told time and time again that our quality of products and prices are what bring people in the door, but our values are what makes them stay. People are tired of liberal and progressive agendas being shoved down their throat!”

A representative from Nimi Skincare, a company that joined PublicSq. in January, 2023, echoed Anna's comments. Although Nimi Skincare has received hostile messages on social media, such as being told it "deserve[s] a bullet in the head," it also found a consumer audience that wanted skin-care products from a conservative company.

"We were tired of hearing their liberal political views in every single place we looked," Nimi Skincare states on its website. The American-made brand advertises representing an "empowered, conservative community of women.”

"We try to focus on our customers and who they are as opposed to what other brands are doing. Our customers proudly stand behind Faith, Family, and Freedom,” a Nimi Skincare representative told National Review in an email. The company saw an increase in sales after joining PublicSq., because it "created a platform that amplifies our message to the right audience — conservative, values-based, Americans."

Although PublicSq. brands itself as conservative, some of the businesses featured think that it is an apolitical venue to support small businesses.

“I think that people need to support small businesses, and I think this is a great platform to do that. I don't even think it is a political thing,” Joseph Schubach, the owner of Joseph Schubach Jewelers in Arizona, told National Review. “We just need to think about when you spend a dollar, where does that dollar go? With so many businesses, it doesn't stay in the community, even in the country.”

Consumers have told Schubach that they prefer to buy from small businesses rather than "big conglomerates."

“Since Covid, there's been a swell of people wanting to support the little guy. The little guys were the ones that were shut down, and the big guys were allowed to stay open. I think a lot of people took offense to that,” Schubach said. He added his business to PublicSq. about a month ago.

Seifert noted a similar phenomenon.

"During the Covid lockdowns, I witnessed the government deem some businesses as essential and others as nonessential," Seifert told National Review. "Often, it was the businesses that were willing to go along with hyper-progressive political messaging that were deemed essential, and the major corporate entities that had the firepower to lobby."

Seifert agrees with Schubach that PublicSq. isn’t an exclusively conservative platform, noting that "nowhere in our five values does it use the word 'conservative' or 'Republican.'” He adds that small businesses are "the heartbeat of what we do" and constitute over 90 percent of businesses hosted on PublicSq.

PublicSq., which recently relocated its headquarters from California to Florida, has around 60 full-time employees who work both in-person and remotely. PublicSq. has a "baby bonus," which provides a $5,000 bonus after taxes to its employees or their spouses who have a baby or adopt.

"We're not political, we're principled," Seifert said.