Which Box is Making All Those Netflix API Requests?

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The folks at Netflix ran a most interesting post yesterday on the company’s technical blog (via ReadWriteWeb). According to the director of engineering, one Netflix device is responsible for roughly 50% of total API calls. The same device, however, isn’t responsible for a comparable level of streaming traffic. In order to cut down on the “chattiness” level, the Netflix team is looking at redesigning the API for greater efficiency. And while the engineers are at it, they figure they’ll play with reducing overall payload (bits delivered) at the same time.

It’s great that Netflix is planning to improve its API, but the story certainly makes me wonder: which Netflix device is causing all that trouble? Is it one that continually drops signal, as some have reported with their TiVo boxes? Or is it one with a more advanced and therefore more demanding UI, like Dave’s favorite, the PS3? Netflix certainly won’t name names, but perhaps somebody else out there has an educated guess. I’d say it’s not the Roku given how long the little-box-that-could has been out, and the fact that API requests started seriously spiking only a few months ago. Anyone else willing to speculate?

24 thoughts on “Which Box is Making All Those Netflix API Requests?”

  1. I’ve been thinking about it… and I don’t think it’s the PS3, since that’s basically a web interface controlled by Netflix. Roku’s UI seems to call a lot of Netflix data and I’d say they’re a likely target… BUT I also suspect they’re responsible for a huge amount of Netflix traffic. Xbox or Apple TV?

  3. Looking at the chart and the traffic spike starts in October. Google tv shipped in october. Seems like a natural fit.

  6. I think Google TV and Apple TV both dropped in early October. TiVo didn’t get it until late October. I think we can exclude xbox, PS3, Wii, Roku as they’ve been out for a while.

    The article source states:

    “One of our device implementations accounts for about 50% of the total API calls,” writes Jacobson. “That same device, however, is responsible for significantly less streaming traffic.”

    now factor in:

    “Netflix: Apple TV Already Passed The iPad In Viewing Hours”
    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Netflix-Apple-TV-Already-siliconalley-3475013574.html?x=0&.v=1

    I think we can thus rule out Apple TV.

    Verdict: Google TV is the culprit.

  7. I was thinking about that, but given that the Apple TV uses a custom GUI vs the “standard” one that the Roku, PS3, and Google TV use, I figured it might be “Apple’s Fault” for not programming the GUI as well as Netflix’s own engineers can in regards to the API.

    If it is the Google TV, I can see how Netflix has a problem on their hands given that the sales of the device have to be much lower than the Apple TV and it uses the same GUI as the Roku and PS3 (relatively). They must have really screwed up the implementation on the Google TV.

  8. @Jimbo

    Here’s the article, I think the fact that Netflix says the device with high API calls, has significantly less traffic, logically rules out the Apple TV.

    Though with some reflection, it’s hard to know where in the cart the “offending” device’s traffic starts. While it COULD be the TiVo, I think the Google TV box seems to fit the bill

    Per the release link

    “And it notes that while Google TV has “not yet gone mainstream,” it’s confident in the concept and is investing in its Google TV app.”

  9. Jon, Mike – No way is it Google TV. Even if their implementation was jacked up, they haven’t moved enough units to register in such a massive way. Also, the initial GTV Netflix UI was the old standard that debuted with the original Roku (which was the original Netflix hardware partner).

    Jimbo, Roku no longer uses the “standard” interface. They’ve tricked it out.

  10. @MethodicJon I believe Tivo has had Netflix since December of 2008, not just since “late October”. : )

    I would actually put the Tivo high on the list as being the culprit because of Tivo Search. Since it has to search the Netflix catalog for every search and (odds are) people are mostly looking for local cable/broadcast content I suspect it generates a lot of traffic for very little streaming.

    Or it could be Chucky’s exotic Mac Mini setup. He sure uses a lot of Dave’s bandwidth! ; )

  11. @henderpa You are correct, I mis-read something.

    @Dave Zatz

    “One of our device implementations accounts for about 50% of the total API calls,” writes Jacobson. “That same device, however, is responsible for significantly less streaming traffic.”

    To me that means, a device that doesn’t do much streaming, does a WHOLE boat load of API calls.

    What we need is someone with an Apple TV and a Google TV to watch packets ;)

  12. Could also be iphone.

    Again, great interface for looking at instant queue and searching; not so great (but OK) for viewing.

  14. “Or it could be Chucky’s exotic Mac Mini setup. He sure uses a lot of Dave’s bandwidth!”

    It’s funny. I do have access to Netflix through Plex on my Mac Mini input 2. But I always use Netflix through the TiVo on my input 1.

    Since I’ve got FIOS and a line-of-sight 5ghz WiFi connection to my TiVo, the Netflix client works there without any freezing problems whatsoever. And I prefer the Netflix UI on the TiVo.

    However, my exotic Mac Mini setup is responsible for a heavy volume of bandwidth from Plex’s mirrors of the IMDB and TVDB to get metadata on the gigabytes of stuff I’ve transferred from my TiVo to my Mini. (All praise be to allah for creating cheap 2TB platter drives.)

  17. “What we need is someone with an Apple TV and a Google TV to watch packets”

    I think the answer must obviously be the GoogleTV.

    After all, GoogleTV has shipped tens of their boxes to consumers…

  18. Yeah, agree it can’t be GTV. Its been such a spectacular failure so far it can’t possibly be responsible, no matter how badly the stuff is implemented.

    Speaking of GTV, while I think the current product is a total dud, I do kinda hope they get their act together and make something happen in a future update/complete change. They’re one of the few players here that has a chance to move things forward a pace.

    That said, if Apple moves forward with the Apple TV, enabling apps to do Air Play with the coming 2.3 update, then a bunch of apps come out, then over the coming year they enable app development for the Apple TV (no I don’t know what apps I want on my TV either), they still have a chance of making it big with this thing.

  21. @ Dave Zatz it HAS to be Google TV. Search is the main component of Google TV. It searches everything including Netflix. Now. I’m not a programmer but, I would think if most GTV users just type a search for what they want to watch, that’s a lot of API calls.

  22. I’m speculating the increase in the chart is due to the Windows Phone 7 which had the Netflix app released in November plus the Xbox 360 which got a Netflix update at the same time that added a new search features and allowed Canada access.

  23. Josh, no way. Without a doubt, there are not enough Google TV boxes to register. It’s been a colossal failure thus far. Furthermore, if I remember correctly, Google’s universal search does not go into Netflix (whereas TiVo’s does). But I’m not motivated enough to unpack the Logitech Revue in the basement to confirm.

    I’d remove any Netflix-produced apps (as seen on phones) from the equation and web-based UIs (like the PS3) as presumably Netflix knows how to optimize for their own API.

  24. The way the article is written, the blame is clearly placed on the API not the device. If ther’s was only one inefficient device, it would be easier for them to address that instead of rewriting the whole API.

    Regardless, the Hub votes for Apple TV or PS3. For Apple TV, lots of reasons: for any given screen of titles, Apple TV displays the most result on the screen. Also, when you pull up a particular title screen much more data is displayed than any other device. It also displays suggestions at the bottom of the screen which other devices don’t do.

    Or it could be the PS3 since it supports closed captioning. I don’t know how they implemented it, but if it requires an API call to display each phrase that would explain it!

  25. I hear a lot of complaining from iPad users about the Netfilx experience. This is probably due to WLAN quality. I just wonder if enough crappy WLAN + iPad users -OR- crappy WLAN + AppleTV users can create a perfect storm. Maybe that’s a contributing factor to the API redesign…

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