INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN MODULE 6

Midterm Written Activity 6

ACTIVITY 1: CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

Based on the discussion, answer each questions and / or statements briefly. Write on the spaces
provided below.

1. Why is relevant and frequently updated content a significant factor for companies
concerned about their visibility on popular search engines? Does the quality of content
impact organic results, paid results, or both? Explain.

Both site users and search engines will regard websites that are regularly updated
and offer fresh, relevant material as authorities in their fields. The key message should
always be that quality content improves search engine rankings and builds credibility for
your business. Without content, search engines won't have enough data to properly index
your sites and aid in your ranking. Content is crucial for SEO. The pages on your website
won't ever be discovered or shared if you don't have a strong SEO strategy.
Ads essentially constitute paid search results. With these, your placement is
typically determined by how much you're willing to offer for the ad's location as well as
other aspects like the ad's impact and quality. You can build up a targeted campaign to
bring traffic to your website through Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any other search provider
with whom you can put up advertising. Remember that you will be completely deleted
from search results if your website breaches Google's Terms of Service. Paid search results
often appear first and are marked with a "ad" indicator. Organic search results are those
that appear without being paid for. The top results are most frequently clicked.

2. The ultimate goal of Google, Bing, and other consumer search engines is to provide users
with a positive user experience. What recommendations would you make to a website
owner with regard to using website content to improve the site’s rank on search result
listings?

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3. Recommender systems use different approaches to generating recommendations. Explain
the difference between content-based filtering and collaborative filtering.
When making suggestions to one person, content-based filtering does not need
the data of other users. Collaboration-based filtering: Collaboration does not require that
the features of the objects be provided. A feature vector or embedding describes each
user and item. It generates embedding on its own for both users and goods.
ACTIVITY 2: CASE STUDY
Business Case: Deciding What to Watch—Video Recommendations at Netflix
Netflix is the undisputed leader of video streaming services, accounting for more than half
(53%) of U.S. video streaming subscriptions. Amazon Prime Video (25%) and Hulu (13%) are the
company’s largest competitors. Netflix is also the oldest company in this group, having originally
started as a DVD by mail rental service. Unlike other companies that dominated the DVD rental
business, Netflix successfully made the transition to on-demand video streaming by investing in
new technology and redefining its business model. The service is now available in 190 countries
and claims over 90 million subscribers globally.
Netflix executives credit the company’s recommendation system for driving the “Netflix
experience” and boosting profitability (Gomez-Uribe & Hunt, 2015; Raimond & Basilico, 2016).
Surprisingly, the origin of the recommendation system dates back to 2000, when Netflix was still
a DVD rental service. Recommendations during these early days were based largely on members’
movie ratings. Ratings often reflect how people want to be perceived as opposed to how they act.
For instance, rating data will tend to overemphasize how much people like documentaries and
foreign language films, whereas behavioral metrics provide more accurate measures of how
subscribers use the service. Today, when Netflix subscribers use the online service, they see
recommendations generated by multiple. algorithms that use descriptive information about the
subscriber and their past viewing behavior (Gomez-Uribe & Hunt, 2015). Netflix claims that 75%
of the activity on the service is a result of the recommendations it offers subscribers.
Netflix Analytics
Netflix enjoys a significant advantage over traditional television channels because the
company collects information about how subscribers use the service. Netflix can make marketing
and product decisions based on several behavioral metrics.

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Recommendation Algorithms at Netflix

The Netflix home screen can offer up to 40 rows of recommendations to a subscriber.
Each row is generated by a different algorithm designed to personalize recommendations as well
as determine the order in which movies and shows are listed. Each row is based on a different
theme or rationale for the titles appearing in the row. Netflix even uses a Page Generation
Algorithm to personalize the type of row-level recommendations and their order when creating
the page. Some examples of the different recommendation rows include the following:

 Genre Rows
 Continue Watching
 Because you watched
 Top Picks

REVIEW QUESTION:
1. You read about four different types of recommendations that Netflix features on their
home page. Think of a new type of recommendation row that Netflix could use and the
kind of information or behavioral metrics that would be needed to generate your
recommendations.

A subscription to Netflix can access up to 40 rows of recommendations on the

home screen. A distinct algorithm is used to construct each row, which determines the
order in which the movies and TV series are shown as well as how each row is
personalized with recommendations. Each row has a distinct subject or justification for
the titles that appear in it. Even when building the page, Netflix uses a Page Generation
Algorithm to customize the kind of row-level recommendations and their arrangement.

2. Based on the information in this case, would you say that Netflix primarily uses content-
based filtering, collaborative filtering, or both? Explain your answer.
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3. What metrics do you think Netflix could use to identify subscribers who are likely to cancel
the service?

Netflix may be able to determine from their statistics how much of a user's content
they need to consume before they are less inclined to cancel. For instance, perhaps they
are aware that "each user is 75% less likely to cancel if they view at least 15 hours of
content each month. Netflix uses AI and ML to identify which graphics are most likely to
fascinate each viewer as they peruse the company's hundreds of films. It is one of the
most effective uses of artificial intelligence that Netflix will make in 2022.