Hulu revamp uses 'like' and 'dislike' buttons to personalize suggestions

It's also promising a more customized home screen and smarter search.

Hulu is determined to improve its recommendations, and one of its biggest upgrades will seem remarkably familiar to some. It's adding Netflix-style "like" and "dislike" buttons to indicate that you'd either like to see similar titles or never to see a show again. The feature is available now both through the web as well as Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast, the Switch, the Xbox One as well as "select" LG, Samsung, Vizio and Android-powered smart TVs. More platforms are "coming soon."

The Disney-owned service also plans to refine the overall recommendation and search experiences. It's working on a more personalized home screen that at once shows more relevant yet diverse collections. It'll do more to build collections of suggested shows based on what you've seen. And when you have to search for a show, Hulu is promising faster, simpler results that will be more forgiving and allow shortcuts (such as HIMYM instead of How I Met Your Mother).

The search improvements will deploy in the "next few months," so you may have to be patient. It'll be good news for both viewers and Hulu when everything is in place, however. The more likely you are to find a new show or a favorite movie, the less likely you are to jump to one of the many rival services out of frustration.

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