However, I am wondering is there a recommendation engine as a service, which is similar to algolia available/possible.
I see only 2 players - yusp and recombee.
I'd appreciate any thought you have on this.
There was really nothing wrong with the concept. A little JavaScript on the page, a bunch of back end magic, the ability to use a larger data pool because you are collecting from multiple sites.... But people wouldn't pay, and the engagement of recommendations was never that good.
The secret we learned was, after a bunch of math and research, was that 'best in this category and 3 closest adjacent categories works so well in retail that a naive algo did very well.
Better than the fancy math, which once associated the Koran with the sports illustrated swim suit edition ( and vice versa ).
There is a massive data sufficiency problem, and no company with the real data would go into this low end business. Small companies can't get enough data to be relevent.
The world is 10 years later, ml is better understood, so it might all be different now.... Pm me if you are interested in further detail
These kind of services aren't so much exposed to the public and likely don't start at <100 bucks a month, which could be why those services are not that visible. However, there are some e-commerce services going in that direction, such like AgilOne...
Netflix is clearly promoting its original shows. Do you think your system is still in use now that they've moved to thumbs rating and percent match score?
Amazing story! I don't know if it's true or if you're delusional, but I'm inclined to believe you as it would explain why Netflix recommendation system went downhill instead of improving.