- HBO Max is rolling out a feedback system
- You’ll able to Love, Like, or Not For Me, whatever you’re watching, like other streaming services offer
- It should help to provide better recommendations
Just days after raising prices for all three of its plans, HBO Max is rolling out a new feedback system – not to address the recent increase, but to learn what content you’re actually enjoying. It’s similar to what other streamers have implemented – looking at you, Netflix – to help curate your watch list and, ultimately, recommend shows and movies you’ll actually enjoy watching.
It’s different from the general alert that might appear during long binge sessions to check if you’re still watching. Instead, when you’re on a page for a movie, TV show, or documentary, you’ll be able to give feedback via a new “Thumbs Up” icon. Additionally, you might see a title card appear elsewhere in the interface asking if you liked a particular show.
HBO Max uses a simple three-rating system – Love, Like, and Not For Me. By using these, the streamer is essentially hinting that you’re helping to curate your own personalized recommendations on the platform. If you have multiple users, it will impact each individual profile.
Essentially, if you love or like content, HBO Max will recommend similar titles – and if you select Love, it’ll even generate an entirely new row filled with content you’ve marked as favorites. That should make rewatching or binge-watching your favorite shows easier.
If you choose Not For Me for a specific title, that title will be deprioritized and is unlikely to be recommended again. The goal is to surface better recommendations as you browse and to provide an easy spot to see the content you’ve truly enjoyed. In my case, that’ll be Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The rating scale is similar to what some of the best streaming services have offered, but it highlights another layer of HBO Max’s algorithm for recommending content. We’ve seen Prime Video integrate AI into its recommendations, while Netflix and Disney use proprietary formulas based on your viewing history and new releases to serve up the best options. Of course, most services will still promote their latest and greatest series or films.
HBO Max’s new rating system is a step in the right direction, though it arrives at a time when subscribers are frustrated by yet another price hike. Across its three plans — Basic with Ads, Standard, and Premium — HBO Max, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, is increasing prices by up to $2 per month or $20 per year.
Even so, subscribers who engage with the feedback system will gain more control over what the streaming service recommends. The new feature is rolling out now across HBO Max’s mobile apps (i.e., Android and iOS), the web, and select TV platforms.
On a page — say, for The Last of Us or Curb Your Enthusiasm — you’ll tab over to the “Thumbs Up” icon, click it, and an overlay will appear asking you to mark the content as Love, Like, or Not For Me. It’s pretty straightforward.
Let us know what you think about this new feedback system in the comments below — and whether you’re sticking with HBO Max.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
