It’s no secret that a significant portion of Stuff‘s data usage each month goes to Netflix. That’s just the way that things work these days. But we’re usually self-restricted to shows that we know or films that we’ve done a spot of research on. Finding something new usually means scrolling through the Recommended listing and then picking something safe. Because who wants to have something terrible under the Continue Watching list?
Nobody, that’s who. And Netflix seems to have realised that, since they’re rolling out a new video previews function for the service. According to Netflix, “…video previews aren’t teasers or traditional trailers” but they will contain all of the information you need to make a choice about a wholly new show or film. Apparently.
The change seems to be an offshoot of the company’s occasionally autoplaying ads, which were trialled for Netflix-owned shows in recent months. Highlighting a show should soon play a brief animation that will give you some idea of what you’re looking at. The company says that “…testing showed that people watched more of a story, demonstrating these previews helped them browse less and watch more.”
Look for the feature to roll out in stages, with streaming devices like the Roku and game consoles getting the update first before native TV and mobile apps follow suit over the next few weeks.
Source: Netflix
