# Why the heck does Netflix think I'll like \_\_\_\_? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-heck-does-netflix-think-ill-like-____/411957 "2007-07-16T08:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-heck-does-netflix-think-ill-like-____/411957/41 "2007-07-19T12:45:02Z")
[QUOTE=jabiru] Amazon thinks that because I’ve bought a book by Peter Robinson, who writes crime fiction, I might be interested in _Hard Labour: The Sociology of Parenthood_. I have no idea how they made that particular connection. [/QUOTE] Amazon uses collaborative filtering, so people who bought the first book also bought the second one. There’s no rhyme or reason, it’s simple statistics. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-heck-does-netflix-think-ill-like-____/411957/42 "2007-07-20T23:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=WilhelmGefallen] _psst_ You know you can remove items from your browsing and purchasing history so that it doesn’t recommend items based on them any more, right? … [/QUOTE] Yes, I know. What I am saying is that it seems like an obvious (to me, anyway) way to improve their recomendation system. Unlike adults, kids preferences change fairly predictably over the years. The 7 year old boy who likes Captain Underpants books is likely to be a prime candidate for a Harry Potter book in 5 years. Why not suggest that to him then? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-heck-does-netflix-think-ill-like-____/411957.md?page=2)