How do you turn off Netflix's "best guess" ratings?
May 2, 2011 11:52 AM Subscribe
Is there a way to turn off or disable Netflix "best guess" ratings?
Until recently I had assumed the star under the movie listings were from all users. I was wrong, and I would really like to get rid of them. I've checked my settings and can't find any options to do so. Google has come up with the solution to remove all my personal ratings but I have some 25+ pages to uncheck. I hope there is a better / easier way?
Until recently I had assumed the star under the movie listings were from all users. I was wrong, and I would really like to get rid of them. I've checked my settings and can't find any options to do so. Google has come up with the solution to remove all my personal ratings but I have some 25+ pages to uncheck. I hope there is a better / easier way?
Seems like the easiest way would be to cancel your subscription and then start a new account. Never rate anything again.
What's the problem though? The user move star rating is listed right under the "Best Guess" -- it's just as a number instead of a graphic.
posted by zephyr_words at 12:20 PM on May 2, 2011
What's the problem though? The user move star rating is listed right under the "Best Guess" -- it's just as a number instead of a graphic.
posted by zephyr_words at 12:20 PM on May 2, 2011
If you hover the mouse pointer on the pictures, you'll see both "your" rating and the overall raiting.
posted by Tarumba at 12:28 PM on May 2, 2011
posted by Tarumba at 12:28 PM on May 2, 2011
Assuming you're using a web browser (and not an iPad app, for instance), you could use custom site css to set the display of the element that contains the stars to display:none. Not knowing what browser you're using, I can't give you explict details on using local CSS, but google can help pretty easily.
I think you'd want to apply this to starbar...
posted by Mad_Carew at 12:39 PM on May 2, 2011
I think you'd want to apply this to starbar...
posted by Mad_Carew at 12:39 PM on May 2, 2011
Netflix customer service is not contactable via email. Their phone number is 1-866-716-0414, but they do not have the ability to remove the best guess ratings from the site. Currently, no such option exists.
If you absolutely do not want the best guesses to show up at all, zephyr_words's suggestion would probably work (to start an entirely new account and never rate anything, ever), but I can't guarantee that the site wouldn't still give you best guesses eventually based on your other rental/viewing activity.
In any case, you can easily access the member average rating on the movie detail popup and on the title's main description page, so I'd say that starting an entirely new account is kind of a drastic solution.
posted by maqsarian at 4:03 PM on May 2, 2011
If you absolutely do not want the best guesses to show up at all, zephyr_words's suggestion would probably work (to start an entirely new account and never rate anything, ever), but I can't guarantee that the site wouldn't still give you best guesses eventually based on your other rental/viewing activity.
In any case, you can easily access the member average rating on the movie detail popup and on the title's main description page, so I'd say that starting an entirely new account is kind of a drastic solution.
posted by maqsarian at 4:03 PM on May 2, 2011
If you use a site like instantwatcher, it will give you the overall ratings because it isn't tied to your Netflix account. (Bonus: it also gives you the Rotten Tomatoes score.)
posted by desjardins at 7:48 PM on May 2, 2011
posted by desjardins at 7:48 PM on May 2, 2011
Response by poster: Mad_Carew: I'm using Firefox 4 but could also use Chrome. We sometimes watch on the Ps3 although that's limited so far to just whats in the Q. I won't go into how dumb and frustrating that navigational experience is.
Tarumba: I'm only able to see the "Best Guess" on hover.
As to why its annoying to me, its a brain/habit thing mostly. I generally trust consensus on bad ratings so, I used to use it as a gauge to whether or not I click on the title to find out more.
posted by ljesse at 8:10 AM on May 3, 2011
Tarumba: I'm only able to see the "Best Guess" on hover.
As to why its annoying to me, its a brain/habit thing mostly. I generally trust consensus on bad ratings so, I used to use it as a gauge to whether or not I click on the title to find out more.
posted by ljesse at 8:10 AM on May 3, 2011
I was going to ask the same question. I use Chrome, and I only get the Best Guess ratings on hover. Having to click through to the title-level page to see overall ratings is irritating, and I find the Best Guess ratings really unhelpful. What browser are folks who get both ratings on hover using?
posted by prior at 8:17 AM on May 3, 2011
posted by prior at 8:17 AM on May 3, 2011
That is a totally frustrating feature on Netflix. Our whole family has ordered, watched and rated various movies - all of us having different tastes and opinions. I don't want anyone to "guess" what I want to see with feedback from someone in our house with entirely different preferences.
Can you imagine if Amazon.com based their rating system like this?
posted by valerieca2 at 8:22 AM on August 28, 2011
Can you imagine if Amazon.com based their rating system like this?
posted by valerieca2 at 8:22 AM on August 28, 2011
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Do you always know what you want to watch? Do you ever just want to watch something but don't have anything in mind so you try out something that Netflix has decided you'll probably like? I'm found some stuff that way that I ended up really liking that I wouldn't have watched otherwise at all.
posted by theichibun at 12:20 PM on May 2, 2011