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Apple Bought Matcha for Its Content Recommendation Algorithms

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Earlier this week, news broke that Apple acquired video discovery and recommendation startup Matcha.tv, a service designed to aggregate popular content from streaming video sites like Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, and Amazon Prime to offer its users a list of content available across all of the services.

Details on the purchase have been scarce, but TechCrunch has provided some new information on why Apple decided to buy Matcha, pointing to its video recommendation algorithm as the reason behind the acquisition.

matcha1.jpg
According to TechCrunch's sources, Matcha managed to hit the user engagement sweet spot, delivering the "right content to the right users" and outperforming competing apps like Dijit and Squrl. Before being shut down, Matcha was ranked as one of the top 15 apps in the Entertainment section of the App Store charts and was experiencing a sharp rise in user growth.
It was Matcha's user acquisition and user engagement strategy that Apple was interested in, according to one of our sources, since the acquisition happened just after Matcha had completed a round of vigorous A/B testing and had "found the answer" to rapid user growth and time spent in app. Matcha's pairing algorithms that drove the right content to the right users simply worked best of any other apps competing in that space, the source affirms.
Click to expand...
Matcha was originally purchased back in May, before its recommendation site was shut down and its app was pulled from the App Store. It was also reportedly acquired for $10 to $15 million, rather than $1 to $1.5 million as was originally reported.

While Matcha's expertise aggregating recommendations from an array of content sources might immediately link its talents to the Apple TV, its notable content delivery algorithms could have a far broader application to facilitate improved recommendations and better content discovery across a number of Apple's products, including the App Store.

Article Link: Apple Bought Matcha for Its Content Recommendation Algorithms
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/15/apple-bought-matcha-for-its-content-recommendation-algorithms/
AngerDanger

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,002
Here's to hoping that Matcha's algorithms are better than the standard "People who watched Dexter also watched: Bambi, Lilo & Stitch, etc."
 
Popeye206

Popeye206

macrumors 68040
Sep 6, 2007
3,148
836
NE PA USA
Better searching and recommendations would be great. One area that I find weak on iTunes and within ATV. I'd be really happy if searches could be more loose... as in searching on Google where you can get close to what you want and it will most likely figure out what you want.
 
O

otisg

macrumors member
Jun 8, 2013
56
0
Please let this be part of a massive Apple TV OS update on Sept. 10th...

And, as far as porn goes, the Roku has it but Apple will NEVER allow it officially. Airplay or PlexConnect are your best bets.
 
A

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
it would be nice to filter itunes movie searches by things like rotten tomato ratings

right now to find a movie i'll usually go to IMDB or flixter first
 
HiRez

HiRez

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
$10M to $15M sounds a lot more realistic. Anyone who sells to Apple for $1M when Apple comes knocking is an idiot.
 
B

Benjamins

macrumors 6502a
Jul 15, 2010
668
137
Fresh Pie said:
Here's to hoping that Matcha's algorithms are better than the standard "People who watched Dexter also watched: Bambi, Lilo & Stitch, etc."
Click to expand...

Look Dave, I can see you're watching Dexter. I honestly think you ought to be watching Bambi, take a stress pill, and think things over.
 
Swift

Swift

macrumors 68000
Feb 18, 2003
1,827
964
Los Angeles
iLilana said:
for just a couple algorithms? so did this put a bunch of people out of work?
Click to expand...

You want to work in tech? Prepare for being out of work, but usually in periods of well-compensated unemployment. But there's another thing in tech: because it's developing so fast, it's a bit like the economy in the '60s: you can quit your job and find another, better one quickly. Take risks or go nowhere.

The usual thing they say about these purchases is, it's usually an investment in the people who made the first thing. Apple has no interest in what they were doing with the app, just in the matching algorithm. Since iTunes' searching is CRAP, that's a good idea. I'd expect improvements here quicker than you think.
 
S

SvenSvenson

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2007
218
162
What Apple should have done...

...is just reverse engineer the algorithms. Then they wouldn't have to pay anything, right?

I mean, everyone keeps saying that software shouldn't be patentable/copyrightable and should be free for all to benefit.
 
E

egoistaxx9

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2013
289
0
never heard of matcha, i hope its better than the rest (the ones which match "two and a half men" with "supernatural")
 
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