The devs at GOG might wanna take a peek at the query that grabs the games for the newsletter suggestions, it makes some interesting picks, as shown in the attached image. Fooled my for a second, thinking that Epic sobered up and put the Unreal games back for sale.

I am not attacking GOG, but sometimes their emails crack me up.

Like today, I got the following titled email - Did that game interest you? See similar titles here! ꒰ᐢ. ̫ .ᐢ꒱

So I opened the email, and it presented me with games I already have at GOG. LOL
And I don't recall looking at anything recently that might have led to those suggestions.

It's a very polite and friendly email, but it sure did make me laugh with the following text. Clearly I am a valued customer ... despite giving me a lousy download speed for many months now. :(

That short summary was so short it was blank, so no new adventures for me to embark on. LOL
And then the games they thought I might like, were as I said, ones I already own at GOG.

I think there might be something wrong with their scripting somewhere.

And to be perfectly honest, I visit GOG every day, sometimes twice, so I don't really need these types of emails. I generally know what I am interested in. Hell, my GOG Wishlist currently has over 1,000 items on it. So many, that I eventually had to disable getting emails about my Wishlist games. I use a helper program instead, to check on desirable game discounts.

Anyway, it is good to have a laugh ... even if they did waste my time. LOL

I believe the recommendation system fails because it lacks sufficient data to identify which items we might like and to refine its suggestions. While their tracking and recording scripts may function, our browsers, ad-blockers, and privacy protection add-ons prevent them from collecting sufficient amounts of data, leaving them without enough information to analyze for making better recommendations. Even if we waive privacy protections and allow tracking cookies and scripts to execute, their system would still advertise games we already own, and it would still struggle to determine which games we are interested in at any given time and to determine the optimal timing to advertise them.

Nah, when a mail is generated on their server, they know what games you own. They don't need to access your browser. It's jus not implemented, that's all.

Even inside Galaxy the reccommendations (or "similar games") are complete bonkers.

I keep getting suggested bundles where I already own all contained parts.
When playing Lego DC Villains, it recommends me Alien Isolation, because both have a Season pass or Deluxe Editions of games that are not related at all with what I am viewing that moment for the one reason that they are a deluxe edition, like the game I am viewing is a deluxe edition.

To be fair to GOG, they aren't the only one who give me goofy emails.

A couple of days ago for instance, I previewed 3 ebooks at the Kobo store, and within 24 hours I got an email listing them (images and all), asking me if I had forgotten about those ebooks ... or something equally stupid. That happens every now and then, and a few other similar types of silly emails from them.

They don't seem to realize what the preview system is for ... or should be. Dopey buggers.

Another one, is emails about an ebook on my wishlist. Nothing has changed about it, except it may have gone up in price since I added it to the Wishlist. Very rarely has it gone down in price, and I appreciate an email if it has, but often it has gone down and I get no email. Luckily I use a checking program.

It's like they think their customers are morons or have Alzheimers and are trying to take advantage of that.

Some of the emails say have a look again at a specific ebook ... even though the price hasn't changed.

Honestly I wish they would shove their algorithms where the Sun don't shine. All they succeed in doing is annoy me.

And like with GOG, I have bought a lot of product from them. So can't they treat me right and leave me alone, except for something that I would be genuinely interested in (i.e. new release by an author I follow or a great discount on something on my wishlist).

This is one of the only metrics for their system to work on when tracking and other cookies, as well as scripts, are blocked, preventing them from collecting necessary data to feed their algorithms. Using the client, they can collect a lot of data, which could eventually lead to better suggestions over time, if it would work - which, according to you, isn't the case.

Making suggestions based on our library, wish-list, and articles we viewed doesn't make them more personal than a random guess would. Based on genres, when someone prefers certain types of VN, for instance, doesn't mean that any type and content is fine and thus achieving the opposite effect - losing the customer's interest.

Their system might be able to determine how high a discount has to be to make it more likely to successfully sell titles, but when timing isn't right, and even if they are matching certain criteria, or when the library contains hundreds of titles, it's unlikely for that customer to make the purchase.

Writing an RNG and using a tag-list, owned- and wish-listed items, as well as games played and finished during the last 6 months as a basis, can yield the same, or even better results. At least you are looking for something at the time you are using it, and you have at least a general idea of what a good candidate will be.

and that's what we get.

I mean ... when using Galaxy (no script blocker, I am using Galaxy), the suggestion as "similar game" to "Lego DC Deluxe Edition" is "Alien Isolation", "Gwent", "Cult of the lamb", "Thymesia", "Mafia", "Islands" and "Lust from beyond M edition"

What they have in common with a Lego game for kids? Ont out of two things: Either they have a season pass or are available in a deluxe edition.
The choice is only mad based on the titles of the game, not even the genrre.

That I constantly get suggested packages where I already own all included games or some stuff that is part of a package I bought but was not marked as owned, is another story.

No, using Galaxy does not improve the quality of the suggestions.

They "could" collect more browser data for better suggestions. But whatever they have, it's not getting used for suggestions.