MacRumors reports today that Netflix has announced that it is to replace its familiar star viewer ratings with simple thumbs up and thumbs down ratings.
In the original source report, Variety said that while the star ratings previously given to content on Netflix will still be used on viewers’ personal Netflix profiles, being able to give content a star rating out of 5 will no longer be possible, and instead viewers will only be able to mark the content thumbs up or thumbs down.
Netflix VP of Product Todd Yellin told journalists at a press conference at Netflix’s offices in Los Gatos, California, that the company had trialed the thumbs up and thumbs down ratings system with hundreds of thousands of members last year. “We are addicted to the methodology of A/B testing,” he told the journalists, adding that the thumbs up and thumbs down system got 200% more ratings than the old star system. “We made ratings less important because the implicit signal of your behavior is more important.”
Expect the new ratings system to roll out worldwide over the next month.
Sources: Netflix to Replace Star Ratings With Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
Netflix Replacing Star Ratings With Thumbs Ups and Thumbs Downs
