Netflix recently announced that more than 9,900 contestants representing approximately 8,100 teams from 99 countries have signed up to vie for the $1 million Netflix Prize since the competition was announced earlier this month.
The prize has attracted competitors from more than 200 universities and numerous corporations from around the world. In addition, several government laboratories from the U.S. and other nations have joined the competition.
Netflix is offering one million dollars to the first person or team who can achieve certain accuracy goals in recommending movies based on personal preferences. The threshold required to win the Netflix Prize is a 10 percent improvement in accuracy over the current Netflix recommendation system. If no one wins the grand prize this year, the company said it will award a $50,000 progress prize to whoever makes the most significant advancement beyond a one percent improvement by October 2007. The progress prize will be awarded annually until someone wins the grand prize.
The company said only one of the 82 current submissions has qualified for the 2007 progress prize, having the minimum one percent improvement over the current Netflix recommendation system. Submissions can continue to qualify for the 2007 progress prize through October of 2007.
