The 5-star rating system on Netflix may change. Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt is a proponent of this initiative, according to a report from Business Insider. Hunt said he believes viewers rate movies like critics, judging the quality instead of simply choosing 1-5 based on the level of enjoyment.
The core issue, Hunt explains, is that you can still thoroughly enjoy a crappy comedy movie even if it’s not the best of the best. That low 1 or 2-star rating will mislead folks looking for something fun to watch because the rating makes the movie look bad. Say you watched Chef’s Table, but aren’t much of a foodie. You may have thought the documentary was boring and given it a 2-star rating, but subscribers who really love cooking shows may give it 5 stars. Those rating inconsistencies skew metadata. Hunt gives the example of The Ridiculous Six. Adam Sander’s new movie only has a 1 and a half star rating, however Hunt explains that when the move was released, The Ridiculous Six had the fastest spike in viewing hours that Netflix has ever seen.
To make matters more confusing, movies are rated differently across Netflix accounts. The algorithm factors in how many movies you have rated and predicts how you will rate the movie you’re interested in both based on your previous history and the average rating of users the service deems similar to you. How you rate content also plays into Netflix recommendations. However, Hunt said he believes the problem doesn’t come from grouping certain users together to get the rating. Instead, he thinks users rating movies is the real issue.
Netflix is searching for better ways to decipher how much you enjoyed their content. It’s no secret that finding content you actually want to watch is more difficult than it should be. Not only because of the amount of content, but it’s impossible to search through the database without Netflix trying to choose what movie or TV show you should watch during your next binge-watching session. I watched 30 for 30: Sole Man last week and now my documentary page is flooded with 30 for 30 suggestions. I’m always up for a good basketball flick, but a few other options isn’t too much to ask. It’s extremely difficult to find hidden gems using Netflix’s current interface which only offers to sort pages by suggestions, highest rating, and year released. Hunt said he’s working on a like or dislike feature, and some kind of “percent match” formula.
Hunt did not specify when Netflix is planning on adjusting its 5-star rating system. Do you have any ideas for a better rating system? Share them in the comment section below!
