Netflix Prevents DPI-based Rating Measurements

Peter Kafka [pictured] reports to re/code that "Netflix doesn't want anyone to know how many people watch its original shows, like “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black .. But until a few months ago, at least one company had a pretty good idea — and shared it publicly. Now Netflix has plugged that leak.

Procera Networks .. says it was able [see "Procera: Netflix' House of Cards Stats; Need 27GB to See it All" - here and chart below] to track individual shows Netflix users streamed on multiple Internet networks for several days at a time .. [Procera] couldn’t provide overall viewership numbers for Netflix’s shows, but could at least provide directional information, by showing how they performed on several of its client’s networks. 

Procera anlytics for a US MSO network, on "House of Cards" Season 2
Release day, Feb 14, 2014,  

..[Netflix] appears to have tacitly acknowledged that Procera’s data was accurate, because it has taken steps to cut Procera off .. That happened in late spring, when Netflix began anonymizing its files. You can see evidence of Netflix’s plans via release notes the company sent to broadband providers that work with the company’s Open Connect data network [see "Netflix CDN Customers have More Fun" - here]; Netflix told partners that new software would “further protect content and utilization information,” and “may minimize the accuracy of devices that perform DPI or traffic reporting ..Netflix declined to comment".

See "How One Company Figured Out How Many People Watch Netflix’s New Shows — And How Netflix Stopped Them" - here.