December 7 2017 | By Ashok Chandrashekar, Fernando Amat, Justin Basilico and Tony Jebara for Netflix Technology Blog
Artwork Algorithm Personalization at Netflix
(Above image: A Netflix homepage without artwork. This is how historically our recommendation algorithms viewed a page.)
For many years, the main goal of the Netflix personalized recommendation system has been to get the right titles in front each of our members at the right time. With a catalog spanning thousands of titles and a diverse member base spanning over a hundred million accounts, recommending the titles that are just right for each member is crucial. But the job of recommendation does not end there.
Why should you care about any particular title we recommend?
What can we say about a new and unfamiliar title that will pique your interest?
How do we convince you that a title is worth watching?
Answering these questions is critical in helping our members discover great content, especially for unfamiliar titles. One avenue to address this challenge is to consider the artwork or imagery we use to portray the titles. If the artwork representing a title captures something compelling to you, then it acts as a gateway into that title and gives you some visual “evidence” for why the title might be good for you. The artwork may highlight an actor that you recognize, capture an exciting moment like a car chase, or contain a dramatic scene that conveys the essence of a movie or TV show. If we present that perfect image on your homepage (and as they say: an image is worth a thousand words), then maybe, just maybe, you will give it a try.
This is yet another way Netflix differs from traditional media offerings: we don’t have one product but over a 100 million different products with one for each of our members with personalized recommendations and personalized visuals.
Read more about it on Netflix Technology Blog.
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