Netflix is an audiovisual streaming platform that lets you watch the best movies and series, from classics to new releases and original productions. With so much content available, it can be hard to choose what to watch, so Netflix uses a recommendation system to suggest content you might like.
Sometimes the suggestions are accurate, but other times not so much. Netflix uses machine learning technology so its algorithms learn from your usage. This technology relies on dedicated cloud servers for all data processing. But what factors does Netflix’s algorithm consider to create each user’s recommendation list?
The Netflix algorithm analyzes dozens of variables based on your behavior when watching content on the platform.
Many of these are unknown, but some are public. For example, Netflix considers the number of hours you spend on the platform and the types of content you usually watch. The more fiction series you watch, the more it will recommend, instead of, say, historical documentaries.
Netflix also considers the device you use to watch content—computer, mobile, TV—and adjusts recommendations accordingly. If you often watch music videos on your phone, it will suggest more music content when you access Netflix from your phone.
The algorithm collects all this information in a database. In fact, each Netflix account generates a separate behavior profile for each user, even for the kids’ version, so tastes and recommendations don’t get mixed up.
Even the recommendations for a specific movie or series aren’t the same for everyone. For example, Netflix has several images or posters for each title—five per series or movie—and based on your browsing habits and which posters you’ve clicked before, it shows a different one to each user.
Netflix also automatically enables subtitles or translations if you’ve watched similar content that way before. You can turn them off, but most users appreciate the feature being active by default.
The company assures users that all this information is for internal use only and is not shared or sold to third parties.
