How The Netflix Queue Works

Nick Kolakowski from Sound & Vision asked a Netflix representative to reveal the secrets of the Queue: The Netflix Queue: How's it Work?

While Netflix wouldn't get too specific with exactly how the algorithm works ("company secret"), they were willing to divulge the factors that do and don't make a difference:

First to Call it: Say you're the first person in all of Netflixland to place a movie in your Saved (or regular) Queue. Naturally, you'll get that flick before everyone else, yes? No. The early bird doesn't necessarily get the movie first.

Demand: The more people who want a movie, the longer it can take to get.

Activity: Unlike the traveling salesman who earns frequent-flier miles, the number of films you get over a certain period (versus other members) works against you when it comes to your status on the new-release list. The more you work your membership, the less likely you are to get the new stuff.

Your New-Release History: The one factor that the algorithm weighs far more heavily than all others is the number of new releases Netflix has been sending you. Those who've, say, received six shiny New Releases over the past month, may find themselves supplanted by someone who's only received two. So the fewer new flicks you've gotten, the more likely you are to rise to the top of the wait list.

via Gizmodo.

Comments

[Tom]

Why would this be such a revelation? Just ask youself if you were to design a system to allocate limited resourses, what would you do? I sure sure most would design something similar.

[danb]

I don't know why "first to call it" doesn't play some part in the algorithm. It's interesting that they use the box office numbers to help estimate demand. I wonder what they'll do if movies are ever simultaneously released.

I wish I hadn't read the article, though. It just reminded me how I have to somehow save my 1344 second-profile ratings somewhere else before September.

[Frank]

Was this article useless, or what?

Everything in there was obvious and well known, with I think one minor exception: that they specifically look at how many new releases you have gotten recently. Even that has been said before, but without real certainty as far as I've seen.

"The early bird doesn't necessarily get the movie first" means nothing. Everyone knew that. What we really wanted to know is whether it makes any difference at all? And we still don't know...

[Chris]

As an aside, the article mentions how John Woo's The Killer will probably never be released on a disc-like form. Not true, as I have a copy of it on DVD sitting right here from a box set with Hard Boiled. Maybe not on Netflix, but it's out there.

[Bamboo]

I actually had something weird happen for the first time this week. I have had Futurama: Beast with a billion backs, in my saved and then Q since it first appeared on the netflix site. It has been at the top of my Q, and even though it shows that it is avaiable, it actually skipped it and sent me a different choice. I used to be a heavy users when I 1st sighed up, but in the last six months probably only get 4 movies a month.
Not pissed or anything, just very disappointed. I had to wait for more than 3 months to get the 1st futurama movie. That better not happen again.

[Ned Ludd]

So does someone who never chooses New Releases never get throttled?

[galofree]

Ned,

Not getting new releases does not equal throttling. They still send you something else if you're smart enough to have something else in the queue. That is, you're still getting a movie, just maybe not the one you want the most...

But to answer your question, I don't order a lot of new releases since I'm content to watch them sometime later (i.e. when they're not new releases anymore), so when I do put new releases to the top of my queue, I usually get them pretty quickly.

"So does someone who never chooses New Releases never get throttled?"

Since postage is the same whether the disc is new release or not, I would think one gets throttled either way. But NF might be more lenient when it comes to old titles.

[danb]

I've gone through periods of high usage that resulted in throttling which involved no new releases. I've never heard of a correlation between the two practices.

Basically what this is confirming is that Netflix throttles your new release queue. That is to say, if you were to only count your new releases as their own queue then you can easily be throttled, sometimes for months on a high demand disc. Your queue itself is still delivered without throttling during that time, but no soup for you.

I generally don't promote new releases to the top of my queue, so when I do I normally get them. This Tuesday I moved Persepolis and the new Futurama movie to the top of my queue and surprisingly got both.

[Bill]

I've seen a strange behaviour a few times recently, and maybe it's throttling but I'm not sure. I'll have a new release at the top of my queue (but not at the time of release so I don't get it right away) and it will be skipped over once or twice because it's not available. Eventually I put something else at the top of my queue which claims to be available "Now" and I move the other movie down to #2 (or #3, as in today's case). Netflix then decides to ship me that movie anyway, even though #1 is available, and it does so the following day from a remote location. My #1 movie today was The Other Boleyn Girl, and it's not a brand new release so I don't see how it's not available. The movie they are sending me is Fool's Gold, which just came out this month.

Anyway I have seen this a few other times recently, they skip over my #1 movie and instead send me a movie that HAD been my #1 but was not available at the time.

Can I call Netflix to ship the other movie in a case like this or do I have to take what they say they are shipping? Maybe they want me to use my bonus rentals?

[Will]

I noticed that when I dropped my plan down from 3 out to 2 out this month, I was suddenly able to get new releases (after usually experiencing a several month wait). So perhaps I should keep these out longer in order to remain in Netflix' good graces. Either that or join Blockbuster.

[Donuts]

The final point is interesting. I average about 10 discs/month on my 3-out plan, but I never have a problem getting new releases. Now I realize that its because I only get 1 or 2 new releases a year.

[william nosko jr]

I haven't received a movie in my top five or six in about six weeks now it is getting very disappointing