Yes I would - as mentioned before - many different things though of as a single algo - or even equation is actually a combination - or linear blend.

Is the the Pythagorean theorem an algo?  Or is it a linear ensemble of A^2 plus B^2?

The fact that you are calling Bagged Trees - for example - AN ALGO - shows the problem with this appproach.  The R package randomForest is simply a combination of CART trees - therefore - even a single random forest under what you are stating - wouldn't count as a single algo - as it was someone putting together a bunch of CART trees in a clever manner.

I understand what you are saying - and similar objections to practicality were raised during the netflix competition.  Google uses over 200 different signals (what we call features) and a combination of algos, but their overall method - as you would call it - is still refered to as "The Google Algorithm".  See here for example - the singular is used eight times - the plural never:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/google-reveals-tweaks-to-its-search-algorithm/

I do not disagree that MM and W&E used a combination of algorithims - I just disagree that you can't call that combination an algorithm as well.

I think you can combine four movies (in some cases) - and still consider it A MOVIE - just as you can put up 100s or thousands of orange pieces of cloth in central park and call it A PIECE OF ART.  Should a cheeseburger be disqualified as the most delicious piece of food on the planet - simply because it combines cheese and a hamburger?  Can the United Kingdom not be considered A COUNTRY, because it contains the countries of England, Scotland, et. al?

Not trying to be a smart ass - ok maybe a little bit :)

Wikipedia says...

While there is no generally accepted formal definition of "algorithm," an informal definition could be "a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations."

RandomForest = (tree1 + tree2) / 2

Is that an algorithm?

myNewAlgorithm = (RF + GBM + NN + LINREG) / 4

Is that a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations? Is that an algorithm?

JC36, can you please give us your definition of algorithm? (At least a crude definition, a description?)
It seems that your definition should be very different from what one would find in a typical computer science textbook or, say, in Wikipedia.
And, please, could you provide a proof (based on your definition) that a combination of several "different" algorithms cannot be an algorithm. - That is your claim, right? Sorry if I misunderstood something, but here are two quotations from your comment:

(1) I still disagree that a combination of several algorithms should be considered "AN algorithm". It should be called "a method".

(2) Surely you guys wouldn't argue that a combination of four such different algorithms is AN algorithm.

Oleg, My definition of an algorithm is the same as the dictionary definitions I have seen which are all singular ie refer to "a procedure" or "a method". Ok, I can see that some people could classify a procedure that embodies the use of four totally distinct algorithms (eg Market Makers' milestone 1 solution) as fitting this definiton and is therefore "an algorithm". It is just that that is not my position.

Has the data prep and modelling code been released, I recall Phil had posted a replicable code for previous milestone? Any such posting for this one so that we can test it out or it needs to be gleaned from the papers itself??