How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland – The Next Web
Posted: January 22, 2021 at 11:54 am
Twenty years ago, Facebook did not exist. Google had just failed to sell itself to Yahoo for $1 million. Netflix was a fledgling startup struggling to establish a working business model around selling and renting DVDs online. Today, Facebook and Google are among the top ten most valuable companies, and Netflix, now the most popular online streaming service with nearly 200 million users worldwide, is worth over $200 billion. Yahoo sold its assets to Verizon for a fraction of Googles value, and Blockbuster, the video-renting giant that refused to acquire Netflix in 2000, no longer exists.
The internets short but rich history shows that surprises can come from where you can least expect them.
The next big thing might come from Finland, where the public broadcaster Yle has been making impressive inroads in online streaming with its Areena service, which is known to 92 percent of the countrys population and used by 78 percent of them, making it more popular than Netflix. According to an annual brand survey by Taloustutkimus Research, YLE Areena is Finlands number-one internet brand.
Whats behind the success of Yle Areena? How does the company manage to flourish in an era where online streaming is dominated by the likes of Netflix, HBO, and Hulu? If the past is any indication, the companies that move and create new markets do so with good ideas, sound engineering, great product management, strong leadership, and the ability to reinvent and adapt to changes.
In this regard, Yle ticks all the boxes, and its success is supported by its timely and open-minded embracing of data and machine learning, which has allowed it to innovate and rebuild its platform in ways that were previously impossible.
Founded in 2007, Yle Areena was one of the first online video services in Europe. But while streaming giants are challenging local streaming services and broadcasters, Yle has continued to grow. One of the key factors that have contributed to its success is its remarkable ability to personalize the experience of its users. The company developed this capability with the help of an advisory company,Fourkind.
To maintain its relevance, the media must be capable of reinventing itself quickly and with determination. The pressure to renew itself was also an enormous opportunity for Yle , says Elina Huumo, Strategic Design Director at Fourkind. There are no other options than to understand customers deeply to create unique value for them faster and more effectively. In renewing itself, Yle has recognized that it needs to be more customer-centric and solve how to lead and create offerings in an intelligent way.
Among the changes Yle has brought to its platform is the implementation of artwork personalization, which uses a machine-learning algorithm to select the best cover image for each video content for each user. This affects not only the bottom line, but increases understanding on what imagery drives content performance for which types of customers.
Many platforms use machine learning algorithms that cluster users based on characteristics and behavior and recommend content that users from the same cluster have viewed. But these machine learning systems often suffer from noisy, biased data, and a bubble effect that reinforces users preferences instead of providing them with novel content. To overcome this obstacle, Fourkinds experts helped Yle implement a contextual bandit, a reinforcement learning algorithm that discovers customer preferences through controlled exploration and feedback. The addition of AI has resulted in a 2.3-percent growth in viewing minutes in Areena.
On the one hand, this is a simple solution because it affects a small part of the whole experience, says Jaakko Lempinen, Head of Customer Experience at Yle. But on the other hand, it tremendously changed how we see the possibilities of using machine learning to create more adaptive user interfaces. It also helped our editorial people to better understand the effects of their work because we started to get completely new data and insights on how different types of images lead to different choices, viewing preferences, etc.
The Yle Areena team is still in the process of automating the entire content pipeline. They are also testing the use of machine learning to automatically extract suitable cover images from the raw content. The outcome would be that the contextual bandit algorithm could teach the image selection algorithm to always choose the best images from every film, Lempinen says.
This would create a self-improving loop where the image-selection algorithm constantly learns to pick better images through feedback from the algorithm that analyzes customer behavior and personalizes the experience. Finding more of these self-improving loops is an interesting area Yle will continue to work on.
One of the benefits of a well-designed AI recommendation system is finding areas where the company can outperform the bigger players in the streaming market. Yle might not have the resources of a company such as Netflix, but it has more than 30,000 hours of unique content, most of which is created by the company itself and its collaborators. And being able to connect users with the right content has been very important in maintaining its appeal to the Finnish population.
We produce and promote a lot of local Finnish content, and at the same time, our recommendation algorithms promote more diverse content for the users, Lempinen says. So we are not always looking for the quick fix for the recommendations but what kind of content would create more long-term relationships
While talk of AI adoption is abundant these days, the transition is anything but easy. Our technical infrastructure and our development culture support AI development very well, but the biggest challenges have come from the people who will work in the end with the systems, Lempinen says. And its not the peoples fault in any waycomplicated AI systems require an even better communication strategy and floor discussions where different parties discuss the functionalities of the system in a shared language. We also need good dashboarding to visualize the different aspects of decision making.
This is where Fourkinds specialties helped facilitate the transition. The companys experts engage with clients in different areas, not only providing guidance and leadership but also helping in the implementation of actual AI solutions.
Our team consists of an interdisciplinary collaboration among experts in strategic design, data science, and machine learning, says Jarno Kartela, Principal Machine Learning Partner at Fourkind. We all have a strong understanding of the value of emergent technology for media transformation and the ability to execute solutions at different levels, from strategic to operative, from data to design.
In the past two years, Fourkind has worked with Yle in applying different methodologies and testing different hypotheses and scenarios.
We have supported the efforts of building personalization to the core platform, focusing on both increasing the key targets of the service itself and increasing the understanding of what customers prefer and what content they enjoy, Kartela says.
And the effort has paid off. This year, Areena surpassed 1 billion video views, which means more than 190 views for every person in Finland.
I think the biggest benefit and what has helped us grow the most relates to how we understand the insights that machine learning systems can provide, whether its about descriptive, predictive or prescriptive analytics, Lempinen says.
While these are interesting examples of how Yle has managed to integrate artificial intelligence into its platform, it is not the finish line. Yle and Fourkind are working together to solidify a vision in which Yle can rapidly reinvent itself when needed. They will focus on further developing the customer-centric R&D and creative process.
The keys to success are excellent content and quality of personalized services, Huumo says. We have helped Yle to listen to and interact with the Finns so they can understand them deeply, create meaningful content and build a future-proof creative process and tools to build better content and personalized experience and world-class recommendations for everyone.
With Fourkind I think we have quite a good partnership where we combine business and service design methods with modern machine learning. This has been quite unique and has worked very well so far for us, Yles Lempinen says.
Yles success story provides a glimmer of hope for local companies that want to compete with internet giants at their own game.
This article is brought to you by Fourkind.
Excerpt from:
How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland - The Next Web
- New Years Resolutions Dont Have to Be about Weight Loss: Why Conducting a Trademark Audit Should Be Part of Your Companys New Years Resolutions - JD... - January 22nd, 2021
- [Full text] The Effectiveness of a Self-Efficacy-Focused Structured Education Prog | DMSO - Dove Medical Press - January 22nd, 2021
- Why it's important to admit when you're wrong - Big Think - January 22nd, 2021
- How Russia and the West try to weaken each other - European Council on Foreign Relations - January 22nd, 2021
- These Self-Help Books by Latinxs Are the Best Guides to Start the New Year Right - POPSUGAR - January 22nd, 2021
- James Maddison: talented, engaging and the essence of the 2021 footballer - The Athletic - January 22nd, 2021
- Ways to Prevent Staff Discipline and Termination in Self-Storage and What to Do When You Can't - Inside Self-Storage - January 22nd, 2021
- 21 Podcasts to Look Forward to in 2021 - Vanity Fair - January 22nd, 2021
- BARSTOOL ASTROLOGY FROM THE FLORIDA KEYS - Florida Keys Weekly - January 22nd, 2021
- Get smart: the best online courses to become an even better you this lockdown - Evening Standard - January 22nd, 2021
- Huddersfield Town's Harry Toffolo reveals ambitious benchmark he aspires to reach - Yorkshire Live - January 22nd, 2021
- Bill Dinkins's newly released Titanic constructs a brilliant way of embracing spiritual insights and truths. - PR Web - January 22nd, 2021
- 0119_Astro | | albanyherald.com - The Albany Herald - January 22nd, 2021
- David Michigans Fortune: The Secret to this Self-Made Millionaires Wealth - Fortune India - January 22nd, 2021
- CS:GO's Overwatch system is in the works for Dota 2 - Dot Esports - January 22nd, 2021
- 9 shows and movies that will inspire you to be better, streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and JioCinema - VOGUE India - January 22nd, 2021
- Too Busy to Read? Use These Educational Audio Courses Instead - MakeUseOf - December 1st, 2020
- Garett Bolles Opens Up on the Epiphany That Led to him Becoming NFL's Top-Graded Left Tackle - Sports Illustrated - December 1st, 2020
- A Guide to Substantially Improving Your Life in 3 Frugal Ways - University Herald - December 1st, 2020
- Lucifer: 5 Things We Love About Dan (& 5 Reasons We Hate Him) - Screen Rant - December 1st, 2020
- People share the life hacks that sound terrible but really work - New Zealand Herald - December 1st, 2020
- The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask Before If and When You Stop and Ask for the Business by Sofiya Machulskaya - ABCmoney.co.uk - December 1st, 2020
- Aiteos 21 Years of Consistency and Commitment to Serving Africas Communities - THISDAY Newspapers - December 1st, 2020
- The Big Business of Being an Ally - ELLE.com - December 1st, 2020
- Self-improvement guru sentenced to 120 years for turning some followers into sex slaves - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland - October 28th, 2020
- 5 self-improvement books that will change your life - Prestige Online - October 28th, 2020
- 7 Reasons Vegans Are More Likely to Be Women Than Men - The Beet - October 28th, 2020
- David Byrne on Voter Suppression, Self-Improvement, and Why the Talking Heads Still Wont Reunite - IndieWire - October 4th, 2020
- FT Assistant Store Manager job with Tory Burch | 147475 - The Business of Fashion - October 4th, 2020
- 'Assistance provided by govt to help improve people's lives' - The Borneo Post - October 4th, 2020
- Hunting the big wave: Topsail's Gianni Pike perseveres through challenges of autism - StarNewsOnline.com - October 4th, 2020
- 'The 100' series finale review: Who wants to live forever? - Hypable - October 4th, 2020
- Cort McMurray: Bake that bread. Write that novel. Self-improvement is hard, but its liberating. - Houston Chronicle - September 30th, 2020
- Pisces: Avoid getting into needless debates with others - The Bethel Citizen - September 30th, 2020
- Jay Shetty and Ranveer Allahbadia come together to talk about the various aspects of self-improvement - Times of India - September 30th, 2020
- Being Alone vs loneliness: What is the difference between THESE two states? - PINKVILLA - September 30th, 2020
- 20 Best Documentaries on Hulu - Hulu Original, Crime, and More Documentaries - GoodHousekeeping.com - September 30th, 2020
- Why Aubameyang Passed Up Big Offer From Barcelona To Stay At Arsenal - International Business Times - September 30th, 2020
- 3 Signs DocuSign Could Be the Future Leader of a $45 Billion Industry - The Motley Fool - September 30th, 2020
- Getting to the Meaning of Mariah Carey - The Ringer - September 30th, 2020
- Saraki, Fayemi Commend Adenuga's Influence on Nation Building - THISDAY Newspapers - September 30th, 2020
- Endgame: Each Avenger's Reaction To The Snap Revealed Their Key Weakness - Screen Rant - September 30th, 2020
- The Pandemic Has Accelerated and Spawned Trends That Startups and Small Businesses Can Leverage - Direct Selling News - September 30th, 2020
- Walters named coach: I can unite Broncos and return to finals next year - NRL.COM - September 30th, 2020
- Take your career to the next level with this hands-on entrepreneur training - Boing Boing - September 10th, 2020
- Mike Signorelli Shares 3 Habits That Develop Simple Living & High Thinking Lifestyle - Yahoo Finance - September 10th, 2020
- Small Changes That Can Improve Your Confidence In Your Appearance - We Heart - September 10th, 2020
- 6 apps and tech innovations that could help you find your dream job - Northumberland Gazette - September 10th, 2020
- Gain clarity with a life audit - Eve Woman - The Standard - September 10th, 2020
- Grupo Bimbo May Be Coming Out Of Hibernation, As Improving Market Share Can Drive Better Margins And Stock Multiples - Seeking Alpha - September 10th, 2020
- Opinion | There's more to Daddy Issues than meets the eye - The Breeze - September 10th, 2020
- The Great Bed Making Debate: Are you a make-every-day or do you love the nest? - ABC News - September 10th, 2020
- NTCA Names 2020 Tile Setter Craftsperson of the Year Awardwinners - Floor Focus - September 10th, 2020
- Self regulation code adopted by Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video and other OTT platforms could either be a - Business Insider India - September 9th, 2020
- Why Americans Really Go to the Gym - The Atlantic - September 9th, 2020
- The Case For Meditation: Why Everyone Should Try It - StyleBlueprint - September 9th, 2020
- SJM says first Grand Lisboa Palace recruitment drive attracted 2000 job-seekers - Inside Asian Gaming - September 9th, 2020
- What Happened to Woojin? Shocking Updates on the Ex-Stray Kids Singer - Distractify - September 9th, 2020
- Parks and Recreation Offering Fall Tennis, Tae Kwon Do and Dance for East Hartford Youth - easthartfordct.gov - September 9th, 2020
- Global AI in Education Market (2020 to 2025) - Featuring IBM, Amazon and Microsoft Among Others - Yahoo Finance UK - September 9th, 2020
- Joy Zinoman, ever the innovator, takes acting to a higher level via Zoom curriculum - DC Theatre Scene - September 9th, 2020
- Donald Trump Wants You To Believe His BS Narrative about BLM and Protests! Wake Up America to What is Really the Truth... - Ringside Report - September 9th, 2020
- In Fallout of Black Appropriation in US, Echoes of Debate on Dalit Representation in India - The Wire - September 9th, 2020
- How to find your unfair advantage and succeed as an entrepreneur - YourStory - September 9th, 2020
- 'Law and order impeded governance, development' The Shillong Times - The Shillong Times - September 9th, 2020
- What's on TV: Friday, September 11 to Thursday, September 17 - Brisbane Times - September 9th, 2020
- New book discusses about leadership and everything that it embodies - GlobeNewswire - September 9th, 2020
- What's the Use of a University? - Brooklyn Rail - September 9th, 2020
- Started Drinking a Little Too Much During Quarantine? This Upper West Sider Teaches You How to Moderate - westsiderag.com - September 9th, 2020
- Outsourcing the Accounting Aspects of Your Self-Storage Operation - Inside Self-Storage - September 9th, 2020
- Podcast Week: New Sarah Grynberg series and book, SpokenLayer arrives - Mediaweek - September 9th, 2020
- A global history of the Freemasons - The Economist - August 28th, 2020
- Gemini: Ignore those looking to stir the pot or bring you down - The Bethel Citizen - August 28th, 2020
- 'Good to Know' Review: JoJo forms dream team with Demi Lovato, Tinashe in sultry album that cut out Tory Lanez - MEAWW - August 28th, 2020
- Finding a Good Mentor: What You Need to Know - Uloop News - August 28th, 2020
- Who Is Sarah Edmondson And What Role Did She Play In NXIVM (And It's Downfall)? - Oxygen - August 28th, 2020
- Everything new coming to FOXTEL ON-DEMAND this September - TV Blackbox - August 28th, 2020
- Judge Sentences Arcata Man to 11 Years to Life for Attempted Murder, More Than a Year After a Jury Convicted Him of the Crime - Lost Coast Outpost - August 28th, 2020
- An interview with Ervin Cohen & Jessup discussing dispute resolution in the United States - Lexology - August 28th, 2020
- The Power of Positive Thinking: Too Much and Never Enough - The Bulwark - August 28th, 2020