Netflix gives star ratings system a thumbs down
Netflix’s videostreaming service is officially scrapping its familiar star-rating system, hoping to make it easier for its 94 million subscribers to signal whether they liked a movie or TV show.
The service is compressing its familiar one-to-five star system into a simpler choice of thumbs up or thumbs down. The change, first discussed by a Netflix official last month and officially unveiled on Wednesday, is aimed at soliciting more viewer feedback and helping the service make better program recommendations.
Netflix believes its star system has been confusing to many people. The five stars allowed subscribers to tell Netflix whether they “hated,” “didn’t like,” “liked,” “really liked” or “loved” a particular video.
That was straightforward enough. But the company found that too many subscribers thought the star ratings Netflix posted for videos they hadn’t rated reflected the average of all user responses. In actuality, those ratings were personalized predictions based on Netflix analysis of a user’s viewing history and past ratings.
Instead, Netflix will now display a percentage designed to predict how much each subscriber will enjoy a given show or movie. The number, similar to compatibility predictions on online dating services, will also be drawn from viewing patterns and past ratings, including those previously entered into the star system.
Although change invariably irks some people, Netflix thinks relatively few of its subscribers will give the streaming service a thumbs down for abandoning the star system. That’s because the allthumbs format generated three times more viewer ratings than the star system during tests conducted with millions of subscribers over the past year.
The stars are fading away after a decade on Netflix’s streaming service, although they’ll remain on the company’s DVD-by-mail program, where they have been around for 17 years..