Big Data Then vs. Now: Goodreads’ Recommendation Struggles
Today, Goodreads has more than 125 million book reviews and millions of user ratings and is the leading site for readers worldwide. But in 2014, a decade ago, its recommendation engine was largely dependent on recommending bestsellers rather than personalized recommendations. Why? Because data processing and machine learning limitations were prevalent then. Now, advancements in big data enable the site to use user ratings, reviews, and reading patterns to help match readers with books they’ll adore. In this article, I’ll be discussing the big data challenge that Goodreads faced roughly 10 years ago — i.e., its recommendation problems — , how they addressed them, and how, with the technology available today, it would be possible to solve them better.