Did Someone Finally Win The Netflix Prize?

from the nice-work dept

For years, we've been fascinated by the Netflix Prize -- the $1 million offer to any team that can come up with a recommendation algorithm that is shown to be 10% better that Netflix's current recommendation engine. For years, different teams worked on the problem, and the early improvements were fast, but then progress seemed to stall out. Some different approaches were tested out which pushed the numbers up even further, but getting that last little bit has proven quite elusive... until now. Apparently, two of the leading teams combined efforts and have submitted an entry that breaks the 10% barrier for the first time. If the results are verified, then other teams have 30 days to submit an algorithm that performs even better. But, if they can't, then this team should win the $1 million... at which point they're supposed to tell the world how they did it. Seems like a much more innovation friendly approach than locking it up with a patent.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: innovation, netflix prize
Companies: netflix


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    David T, 26 Jun 2009 @ 6:17pm

    Yay!

    The unnoticed nugget here is that Netflix is adding value to their service by respecting their customer's time.

    I've found movies through the current rating system that I liked but would never have picked out on my own. Conversely, I've watched movies in the theater that I hated and found Netflix's system reflected my disdain when they became available.

    The ability to quickly and accurately sift through decades of media is a major value to this consumer.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anton, 26 Jun 2009 @ 6:40pm

    How does pandora do this? They seem to be very good at very similar task...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Derek Kerton (profile), 27 Jun 2009 @ 11:07am

      Re:

      Pandora calculates a "musical DNA" for each song by scoring it on a multitude of criteria: beat, chorus, length, sound, instruments, etc.

      Pandora then assumes if you like one song, you will like songs with similar DNA.

      Netflix uses a more human approach called "Collaborative Filtering" in which they (generally) say "people like you who liked these films ALSO liked this film".

      The main difference is Pandora analyses the music in detail, but Netflix analyzes people's opinions in aggregate.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Javarod, 26 Jun 2009 @ 7:41pm

    I think what most impresses me here is that two teams stopped competing and decided to gang up on the problem, a problem solving attitude that is so rare these days.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Joe Smith, 26 Jun 2009 @ 10:06pm

    a couple of points

    There were at least three teams (not two) involved in the final result - BellKor, Chaos and Pragmatic Theory.

    The winner has to tell the world how they did it but they are allowed to patent their technique if they can. The rules require disclosure and a non-exclusive licence to Netflix but they do not prohibit patenting and they do not prohibit charging others for the use of the technique.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2009 @ 11:15am

    I completely agree, this is a great way to foster innovation. Given the combined efforts of all of the teams $1 millon is a bargain.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Helen Floyd, 13 Nov 2009 @ 10:55am

    I've heard that nobody finally have won this prize. And I've heard that two of three teems stopped competing. I have a research paper about this topic. If you want, I can check for you.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.