You may have asked yourself on more than one occasion. Netflix has a mysterious ability with which it is able to guess which series and movies you are going to like, so it recommends them with total security so that you are hooked again to another of its streaming content. But how exactly does it do them?
Netflix knows everything about your tastes
Obviously it is not by magic. The system has an algorithm that matures and learns thanks to all the content that you play over and over again, so that, after a while, it is able to guess which will be the next series that might interest you.
Every time you log in to Netflix, whatever the device, the service analyzes your selections to know at all times what you saw, what banner you clicked on and what genre of movie you usually watch most often. With these details and many others, the algorithm generates a perfectly trained profile that will be in charge of defining the recommendations that appear on the screen. The data it analyzes to learn from your tastes are the following:
- All kinds of interactions with the service, from the viewing history to the star rating you gave to the movie or series.
- Relationship with similar tastes and preferences with other service members.
- Analysis of the titles, genres, categories, actors, release year and other details of all the content you have seen.
- The time slot in which you usually use the service.
- The devices you are accessing from.
- How long are you watching the content.
The service clarifies that its algorithm does not analyze any type of information related to the age or gender of the person using the service, so the recommendations will have nothing to do with these two factors.
The origin
But, like everything, there is always a first time. The first time you log in with your shiny new Netflix account, the service will ask you a series of questions related to your tastes . The interface shows you some movies that you should go marking according to your interests, and so the algorithm will begin to collect information about you. That easy.
In case you skip this step (something that can be done), the algorithm will start completely virgin, and the welcome interface will show you popular titles and all kinds of themes so that you are “itching” little by little. As you watch content, the service will modify the home screen to show elements that resemble your tastes.
The secret of the interface
But nothing is designed lightly. The Netflix interface organizes the content by rows, and these in turn are organized internally. Thus, the menu is made up of a series of rows that are ordered from most to least interesting, and inside these we will find contents that have been organized from left to right from most to least interesting.
The result is rows categorized by up to three layers of personalization, where the contents on the left will be the ones that are closest to your tastes, with those on the other side that least coincide with your preferences.
Thanks to this method of observation, analysis and presentation of the interface, Netflix is able to learn from your tastes for every time you press the button on each of the titles that it offers you in its menu. So, now finally, you know why you are being bombarded with eighties series since you saw Stranger Things .
