Netflix Explains How It Comes Up With Its Recommendations

Sometimes Netflix is able to peek deep into your soul and tell you exactly which movies you’ll want to watch next, and other times it suggests Power Rangers Samurai. The company is now offering a behind the curtain to explain how it plays matchmaker with you and all the lonely movies out there.

According to the Netflix Tech Blog, which brags that 75 percent of everything people watch is due to one of its recommendations, you can blame some of its screwier suggestions on the poor tastes of other members of your household. Everything you watch plays into movies the service digs up and recommends to you.

Analyzing your viewing history, ratings and friends’ recommendations, Netflix creates rows of recommendations in genres and sub-genres, hoisting certain subsets higher on the page to grab your attention. The system works to expand your horizons by giving preference to its newest additions, as well as emphasizing diversity.

Netflix’s recommendations are sometimes weirdly off base, but probably become more accurate the more you use the service. If nothing else, the post is a warning to discourage household members from soiling your Netflix profile with poor choices.

Netflix Recommendations: Beyond the 5 stars (Part 1) [Netflix Tech Blog via Engadget]

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