ClerkDogs adds human touch to computer recommendations

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In 2006, online movie rental service Netflix issued a challenge to geeks everywhere: develop a movie recommendation system that is better than its own Cinematch system and walk away with a cool $1 million.

Stuart Skorman, the entrepreneur behind one of the earliest online video stores, Reel.com, is turning the Netflix Challenge on its head with a new movie search engine launching in Beta form today that relies on knowledgeable video store clerks -- not computer algorithms -- to help people find movies that match their tastes and moods.

Dubbed ClerkDogs (an obvious nod to directors Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino), the service relies on 22 former video store clerks who individually rate the films and develop recommendations based on a range of film attributes, including character depth, suspense, black humor and complexity, along with the obvious stuff, such as genre. The staff, most of whom work part-time, meet regularly to make sure they are all rating consistently.

Read the full story at the Entertainment News & Buzz blog.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski