Netflix will soon roll out its biggest improvement to search in quite some time. This feature will significantly change the way users learn about new content. During its first-quarter results conference call, CEO Greg Peters unveiled plans for this new search experience, which will leverage artificial intelligence to refine recommendations and facilitate better content discovery.
The motivation behind this initiative stems from a notable observation: only 1% of Netflix’s traffic is generated by its most popular titles, which dominate public discourse. Still, this statistic should emphasize to all the need to improve the discovery and recommendation systems of the platform itself. Peters emphasized the potential for improvement, stating, “There is more room to improve the discovery and recommendation experience, and therefore provide more value for members, and therefore find the biggest audiences for our titles.”
The new search experience will focus on “interactive search that’s based on generative technologies.” Netflix is starting by testing the OpenAI-powered search functionality with a small number of users in Australia and New Zealand. These limited tests are meant to identify opportunities, share insights and improve the user experience ahead of a future larger scale release.
Along with the search improvements, Netflix is updating its home page layout across its TV app. We’re thrilled about this homepage redesign – it’s the first big structural change to the homepage in more than 10 years. Besides taking consumer-facing products responsive, the new design brings a fresh approach to presenting show titles and descriptions. Peters is hopeful this move will drastically increase user engagement. He continued, “This [Homepage redesign] is an area that we hadn’t made big structural changes to in more than 10 years. We think this will make a huge difference in Netflix’s discovery experience. We’ve made a number of enhancements and refinements to that experience, all around the feedback we received from members who utilized it.”
The company plans to implement this new home page design widely later this year, providing users with a fresh way to interact with the platform. Netflix continues to drive innovation and our imagination. These new moves come in the wake of a strong first quarter, with the company’s revenue increasing by a whopping 12.5% to $10.54 billion from this time last year.
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