Netflix Will Be Doing Away With Star Ratings

Do reviews and ratings play a huge role in you deciding what show to watch on Netflix? We suppose that is the point, after all if a TV series or a movie has been rated one star, it should be an indication of what to expect. However it seems that Netflix has decided that the star rating system is so “yesterday” and have decided to get rid of it.

Announcing the changes at a press event today, Todd Yellin, the VP of product at Netflix revealed that the company will be ditching the current star system. Instead the company will be giving users another way to rate movies, which is by giving it the thumbs up or thumbs down. The idea behind it is to simplify the process, and encourage users to rate their shows.

According to Yellin, “It’s becoming the global language of the internet. Five stars feels very yesterday.” He also revealed that this new system has been in AB testing in the first half of 2016 with hundreds of thousands of users, and it seemed to be particularly effective as it resulted in a 200% increase in ratings.

We suppose this makes sense since basically users are saying that they either liked the show or they don’t, versus star ratings which has a bit more consideration going into it which could put off some users from making their ratings. These changes are expected to roll out in the next few weeks.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Netflix