Netflix announced today a key update to its search interface. Now, when a user hovers over a title in the streaming giant’s vast and ever-growing library of thousands of titles, a video preview will automatically initiate.
These new video previews bring the browsing experience on Netflix more closely in line with what it’s like to surf for content on traditional TV, the company explained in a blog post. But “video previews aren’t teasers or traditional trailers,” Netflix said. “They are specially designed video synopses that help members make faster and more confident decisions by quickly highlighting the story, characters, and tone of a title.”
Here’s how the previews look in action:
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The ultimate aim of previews is to help viewers land on content as quickly as possible. Cutting down down on search time will be a crucial driver as Netflix ramps up its content output next year — from 30 original shows in 2016 to 60 come 2017, with a noted emphasis on reality programming. Netflix estimates that “we have less than 90 seconds to capture someone’s attention and get them excited about a title.”
Video previews are launching globally today and will roll out in coming months to Netflix-enabled devices, including game consoles, Roku, and smart TVs, the company said.
In February, Netflix announced another change to its recommendation methodology by taking into account users’ tastes and preferences across different countries rather than keeping its algorithm region-specific.
