Using Google, search for “Netflix Prize” to learn about this contest and the subsequent troubles Netflix experienced with Netflix Prize 2. Write a brief report on what you find and argue for or against cancellation of the second contest. (AACSB: Communication; Use of IT; Reflective Thinking) Want to improve your business’s operations? Hold a contest and get some of the best and brightest minds in the world working on it! That’s what Netflix did—and it wasn’t your everyday contest, either. Netflix, the video streaming and DVD rental company, held a three-year, $1 million contest with the goal of improving its movie recommendation system by 10 percent. The company wanted to improve its system for predicting what customers might like based on their ratings of previous movies rented or viewed. The contest garnered more than 51,000 contestants from almost 200 countries.
The contest attracted entries from scientists, researchers, and engineers, and the winning team consisted of one-time competitors who joined forces to submit the best solution within a few minutes of the contest’s deadline. The sequel—Netflix Prize 2— aimed to improve the movie-recommendation system for Netflix customers who do not regularly rate movies on Netflix, but this contest hit a legal roadblock and was discontinued.