Netflix is ​​about to make major changes to its streaming platform, with plans to ditch functionality that shows site users their “compatibility” with the various movies and TV series available, a company spokesperson told IndieWire.

Netflix says that the “Match” feature (translated by the Romanian version of the site as “Concordance”) is based on a dynamic algorithm that helps users find shows to their liking based on their own viewing history.

“Match” also takes into account other factors, such as the ratings that users give to a movie or TV series using the 3 buttons “I don’t like it”, “I like it” and “I like it”, as well as criteria such as users’ viewing habits, which algorithm evaluates as close in terms of advantages to the corresponding one.

“Data, algorithms, and computing systems complement each other to continuously generate new recommendations, creating a unique experience to enjoy,” Netflix’s official website says of the feature, which will be introduced in 2021.

Netflix is ​​trying a new method of recommending movies and series to users based on their tastes

Now the American streaming company has decided to focus on the “tags” or keywords that appear at the bottom of the window that opens for a movie, series, documentary or other type of production, to identify those that may be of interest to an individual user. .

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Netflix has at least 30 employees responsible for tags alone, and a company spokesperson confirmed that they are working full-time exclusively to work on this aspect of the platform.

“Imagine magazines with no lines of text on the cover and only pictures on them. Tags play as important a role as a line of text in making that ‘ah, this is for me’ decision instantly,” Allan Donald, chief product officer at Netflix, told the NYT.

Eunice Kim, the streaming company’s chief product officer, said in turn that if a user doesn’t click play within the first 53 seconds of watching a trailer, the likelihood that they’ll watch it later is “dizzying.”

Netflix already has more than 3,000 tags for its products, including things like “provocative,” “suspense,” “irreverent,” “investigative,” “nostalgic” or “eccentric.”

It’s not yet known when Netflix plans to remove the Overlap feature, but the decision comes after several recent moves to give it an edge in the increasingly competitive streaming market.

Including the Romanian market, where Netflix has authoritatively dominated for years, at least 3 competing platforms have recently been launched: HBO Max, Disney+ and SkyShowtime.

As always, you can read more streaming news and other exciting news in this weekend’s Nerd Alert column:

• The Chinese Announce an Invention That’s Too Good to Be True / A New Sight to Visit When You’re in Greece / An Extremely Rare Netflix Move