In October 2006, Netflix announced a $1 million dollar prize to anyone who could create a system that would improve the accuracy of their recommendation system by 10% or more.
More than two years later, contestants are still .56% shy of the finish line.
From NYT Magazine:
“So this is the question that gently haunts the Netflix competition, as well as the recommendation engines used by other online stores like Amazon and iTunes. Just how predictable is human taste, anyway? And if we can’t understand our own preferences, can computers really be any better at it?”
