Netflix Million Dollar Prize Ends in Photo Finish. We've been following the Netflix Prize as it's unfolded, with over 40,000 teams from 186 countries competing to improve the video rental and streaming service's recommendations engine by 10% or more.
Back in July when the contest officially ended, the race was still too close to call, with two qualifying lead teams submitting their results in the very last 20 minutes of the competition. The results are finally in, reports the New York Times, with the BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos team netting itself a $1 million prize purse. With both teams turning in algorithms that had them in a dead mathematical tie, the race essentially came down to a photo finish.
Because BellKor's team had posted their findings about 20 minutes ahead of the rival Ensemble team, they took home the prize thanks to the contest rules about time to post breaking any potential ties. This - home. Get Satisfaction - People-Powered Customer Service.