Netflix to drop star ratings for thumbs up, thumbs down system

Say goodbye to the Netflix star. The video service is shedding its five-star rating system sometime next monthin favour of the thumbs up, thumbs down model made popular byYouTube and Facebook.

The company said they are making the switch to further personalize the movies and shows it recommends to viewers. They testedout the new system with some users and saw a big boost in how many peoplerated whatthey watched.

"The star ratings represented compatibility not quality," Netflix spokespersonSmita Saran said in an email. "Given that star ratings have traditionally been used to indicate quality in entertainment, members were sometimes confused about how to think about rating a title and how it impacted their recommendations."

Under the five-star model, one star means"hated it" while five means"loved it."

The service's algorithm thentriesto match related content based on these ratings, but it sometimes ledto wonky suggestions. The hope is to have the new model make the recommendations more accurate thumbs up means enjoyed, thumbs down means didn't enjoy.

Netflix will also add a feature which they call "per cent match." It will give certain titles apercentagebased on a user's past ratings and what they have watched.

The switches, announced at press event onThursday, will be rolled out worldwidesometime in April but the company won't say exactly when.

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