Despite platform efforts on content discovery and the fast, ongoing evolution of artificial intelligence technology, consumers still seem to have lukewarm trust in their streaming services’ search-and-recommendation features.
According to Hub Entertainment Research, 54% of the adult consumers recently surveyed for the 2025 edition of the firm’s “Conquering Content” study say they believe recommendations tend to promote the services’ new shows rather than actually help them find something they want to watch.
Leading streaming services such as Netflix, for example, insist that “recommendation and search algorithms are at the heart of” their platforms. And makers of streaming gadgets and TV operating system software continue to tout search-and-recommendation advances tied to AI. Google, for instance, says that Google TV Streamer users can “get suggestions based on your preferences and what you’ve watched in the past,” given that the gadget is powered by Google AI. Google recently introduced Gemini on CTV devices powered by Google TV to allow for conversation content queries, initially available on new TCL smart TVs ahead of later expansions.
Still, the search, if you will, for a widely popular “Holy Grail” tool that matches show and movie recommendations to individual user tastes goes on.
"With so many choices, matching viewers to programs that fit their taste and mood continues to be one of the toughest tasks for TV providers," said Jason Platt Zolov, study author and senior consultant at Hub, in a statement.
The collective inability by streaming companies to develop search and recommendation tools their users find useful and effective might just be pushing many viewers to YouTube.
According to Hub’s survey, 80% of consumers who use the video platform say they turn to YouTube sometimes or frequently when they can’t find something to watch on SVOD, pay TV, FAST or other programming destinations. Even older consumers are doing this now — 73% of those ages 35+ frequently or sometimes end up resorting to YouTube’s content smorgasbord, according to the research company. The percentage increases to 90% for younger cohorts ages 16-34 years.
Meanwhile, as Hub already suggested in its "Conquering Content' study two years ago, as streaming platforms seek to direct viewers to newer content as well as libraries, consumers continue to engage with movies and TV shows that aren’t necessarily “new,” but “new to them.”
According to Hub, 60% of surveyed consumers describe their favorite show as one that’s already been on for several seasons.
"Viewers love having tons of options and lean into old favorites as a way to keep watching until a new hit breaks through,” Zolov added. “Streamers that deliver a balance of those old gems with well-timed exclusive new content will breed the strongest loyalties from viewers.”