Netflix offered a million dollars for a computer program that accurately predicts which films people will rent from its online service!

Netflix bills itself as the world’s largest Internet movie rental service and said it was intent on better knowing what films people would pick from its virtual shelves.Netflix challenged software developers to come up with a program that beats Cinematch predictions by at least 10 percent. The first person or team to do so would win.

Contestants would get to work with 100 million anonymous rental ratings from members. The winning approach would be made public so academics, businesses and researchers could use it as a tool to better match people’s tastes to products or services, Netflix said.