[surfingtheweb]

For the time being, I still use netflix, amazon, and hulu streaming services. If you've ever used the apps for any of those services on roku, apple tv, or a smart tv, you're likely frustrated by how difficult it is to find something relevant to watch. I often think, "Who thought this UI was good?" That thought leads to, "What if the interface is purposely bad?" and "Why doesn't Hulu want me to find anything to watch?"

I don't know how licensing works with these streaming services. I'm beginning to think that because these companies license content from third parties, they have an incentive to discourage people from watching anything. Maybe if you don't watch, then they pay less in licensing fees. The ideal profit scenario is for you to subscribe to Netflix's service, but not consume any content. If you pay Netflix, but never watch anything, they don't have to expend the costs to deliver content to you (licensing and bandwidth). This gives Netflix an incentive to create algorithms that obfuscate content rather than a smart algorithm that suggests relevant content.

Does anyone else get this feeling? Does anyone know if licensing agreements are set up on a pay-per-play basis between studios and netflix?