Netflix set to remove ‘nightmare’ matches with a much simpler feature for finding shows and movies

NETFLIX could be planning to remove a key feature that’s meant to help people find new TV and movies they might like, according to a report.

At the moment, you’ll be familiar with the “match” rating that appears next to everything on the streaming platform.

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The higher the figure, the more sure the algorithm is that you’ll like it.

But some Netflix users haven’t always loved it.

“These match percentages mean nothing to me,” one user has previously complained.

“Netflix need to bring back the 5 star rating. I be a 90% match to a lot of bulls**t movies,” another said.

“Netflix’s rating / “match” system is horrendous. Stop forcing bad content into my suggestions,” a third commented.

Well, it looks like Netflix is preparing to drop the confusing matches, according to the New York Times.

Instead, the company apparently wants to focus on tags.

Netflix already has a whooping 3,000 tags in use.

These range from “romantic” to “exciting”.

There’s even a tag for “Occupation: farmhand”.

“Imagine magazines that have no cover lines, and there were just photographs on them,” Allan Donald, Netflix’s director of product told the publication.

“Tags make as much of a difference as a cover line in that snap ‘this is for me’ decision.”

He also revealed that there are some 30 people employed by Netflix who are responsible for coming up with tags, with backgrounds as librarians or in information science.

Previous tests removing tags led to a drop in engagement on Netflix, Mr Donald added.

“People would take much longer to choose,” he explained.

“They would drop out of a title because they didn’t like it too much or because they didn’t know what they were getting.”

Last year, Netflix quietly dropped its “Surprise Me” button after just two years due to lack of use.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk