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$1 Million Netflix Prize is Finally Claimed

In case you missed it, the Netflix Prize has been claimed. What is the Netflix Prize, you ask? Only the most exciting collaborative experiment in...

Zach Frechette
By Zach FrechetteJul 01, 2009
Zach Frechette
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In case you missed it, the Netflix Prize has been claimed. What is the Netflix Prize, you ask? Only the most exciting collaborative experiment in distributed brain power since the start of the internet (It's like a cross between SETI and the X-Prize). Maybe that's an oversell, given that the intended outcome was only to improve the recommendations Netflix's automated systems makes to its customers by 10 percent (read some nice explanations here and here). But they were offering a million dollars to whoever could do it first. And it's exciting not so much for the result, but how that result was achieved. Teams from 184 countries competed to win the prize. They shared resources on a message board, and the team that ultimately won was actually a combined of two of the leading teams. In short, a very nice case study in technology, motivation, sharing, change, and results.Photo (cc) by Flickr user Ross C.

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