Netflix kills “Surprise Me” feature

3 years ago 1

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Netflix quietly killed its “Surprise Me” shuffle feature less than two years after its launch, Wall Street Journal reports.

A Netflix spokeswoman told the publication that the feature was dropped in January 2023 due to relatively low use.

The FAQ section on Netflix’s website also showed that the feature was discontinued.

The spokeswoman explained Netflix had determined users tended to use its service with a specific title in mind, undermining the feature’s appeal.

“We will continue to explore other ways to give members more options and ways to explore and discover content they want to watch,” the spokeswoman said.

The video streaming service first introduced the feature in April 2021, initially calling it “Play Something”.

At the time, it said the feature aimed to take the stress out of having to choose something to watch and allowed users to instantly start streaming without browsing through its vast catalogue.

That would make it similar to what popular music streaming services offer to help users discover new songs and artists they might like.

When users clicked the “Play Something”/”Surprise Me” button, Netflix would show a movie or series based on a recommendation system that analyses the user’s watch history.

Users could also ask the service to reroll the shuffling dice and recommend another title.

Executives argued that the feature would be like a “power button” for Netflix, with users able to select it and let Netflix play through titles in the background while they went about their daily home activities.