Netflix Prize

The Netflix Prize was a competition launched in 2006 by Netflix to improve its movie recommendation algorithm. Participants, including data scientists and programmers, used a large dataset of past user ratings to develop better prediction models for how users would rate movies they hadn’t seen. The goal was to enhance the accuracy of personalized recommendations, ultimately improving user experience. After several years, a team called BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos achieved a significant reduction in prediction error, winning the $1 million prize in 2009. The competition advanced the field of recommendation systems and data analysis techniques.