Netflix’s rating system will be much simpler starting next month.
According to The Verge, the entertainment company is replacing its time-honored five-star ranking system with a thumbs up/thumbs down rating option. Netflix VP of Product Todd Yellin announced the change during a press briefing Thursday, explaining the company tested the feature in 2016 and discovered a 200 percent increase in logged ratings. He also said the thumbs provided a more accurate idea of what kinds of films/series each user truly enjoys. Yellin suggested there are times when cheap entertainment will receive a low star rating but will be viewed more frequently than a serious film/program with a high star rating.
“What’s more powerful: you telling me you would give five stars to the documentary about unrest in the Ukraine; that you’d give three stars to the latest Adam Sandler movie; or that you’d watch the Adam Sandler movie ten times more frequently?” the executive said, according to The Verge. “What you do versus what you say you like are different things.”
Yellin also announced Netflix will introduce a percent-match feature that will let users known how likely it is that they’ll enjoy a particular movie or show. The percentage will be based on what the users typically watch and the time they spend streaming each movie or series.
The new rating system and percent-match feature will roll out globally starting in April.
