Netflix offers $1 million prize for best idea on how to improve its systemSAN FRANCISCO · Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix Inc. wants recommendations on how to improve its movie recommendation system, and is dangling a $1 million reward as an incentive.
The prize, offered in a contest beginning Monday, is part of Netflix's effort to sharpen its competitive edge as it continues a bitter duel with Blockbuster Inc. and prepares for an anticipated onslaught of services that make it easier to download movies onto computer hard drives.
By spurring engineers to develop a better way to decipher consumer tastes, Netflix is betting its market-leading DVD service will become more useful to its 5.2 million subscribers and attract new customers.
To win the prize, a software program must improve the accuracy of Netflix's current movie recommendation system by at least 10 percent. The differences will be tracked by a program that quantifies how well the recommendation systems predict which movies will be liked or disliked by a profiled consumer.
"Right now, we're driving the Model T version of what is possible," said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. "We want to build a Ferrari and establishing the Netflix Prize is a first step."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-znetflix03oct03,0,4286578.story?coll=sfla-business-front
