Media, Aggregators, and the Link Economy: Strategic Hyperlink Formation in Content Networks

A defining property of the World Wide Web is a content site's ability to place virtually costless hyperlinks to third-party content as a substitute or complement to its own content. Costless hyperlinking has enabled new types of players, usually referred to as content aggregators, to successfully enter content ecosystems, attracting traffic and revenue by hosting links to the content of others. This, in turn, has sparked a heated controversy between content creators and aggregators regarding the legitimacy and costs/benefits of uninhibited free linking. To our knowledge, this work is the first to model the complex interplay between content and links in settings where a set of sites compete for traffic. We develop a series of analytical models that distill how hyperlinking affects the (a) incentives of content nodes to produce quality content versus link to third-party content, (b) profits of the various stakeholders, (c) average quality of content that becomes available to consumers, and (d) impact of content aggregators. Our results provide a nuanced view of the so-called link economy, highlighting both the beneficial consequences and the drawbacks of free hyperlinks for content creators and consumers.This paper was accepted by Lorin Hitt, information systems

The Best Trail Algorithm for Assisted Navigation of Web Sites

We present an algorithm called the Best Trail Algorithm, which helps solve the hypertext navigation problem by automating the construction of memex-like trails through the corpus. The algorithm performs a probabilistic best-first expansion of a set of navigation trees to find relevant and compact trails. We describe the implementation of the algorithm, scoring methods for trails, filtering algorithms and a new metric called \emph{potential gain} which measures the potential of a page for future navigation opportunities.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure

Uncovering missing links with cold ends

To evaluate the performance of prediction of missing links, the known data are randomly divided into two parts, the training set and the probe set. We argue that this straightforward and standard method may lead to terrible bias, since in real biological and information networks, missing links are more likely to be links connecting low-degree nodes. We therefore study how to uncover missing links with low-degree nodes, namely links in the probe set are of lower degree products than a random sampling. Experimental analysis on ten local similarity indices and four disparate real networks reveals a surprising result that the Leicht-Holme-Newman index [E. A. Leicht, P. Holme, and M. E. J. Newman, Phys. Rev. E 73, 026120 (2006)] performs the best, although it was known to be one of the worst indices if the probe set is a random sampling of all links. We further propose an parameter-dependent index, which considerably improves the prediction accuracy. Finally, we show the relevance of the proposed index on three real sampling methods.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 6 table

Node aggregation for enhancing PageRank

In this paper, we study the problem of node aggregation under different perspectives for increasing PageRank of some nodes of interest. PageRank is one of the parameters used by the search engine Google to determine the relevance of a web page. We focus our attention to the problem of nding the best nodes in the network from an aggregation viewpoint, i.e., what are the best nodes to merge with for the given nodes. This problem is studied from global and local perspectives. Approximations are proposed to reduce the computation burden and to overcome the limitations resulting from the lack of centralized information. Several examples are presented to illustrate the different approaches that we proposeFP7-ICT Project DYMASOS under Grant 611281Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad COOPERA Project Grant DPI2013-46912-C2-1-RMinisterio de Educación José Castillejo Grant (CAS14/00277)Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant 15H04020 and Fellowship PE1604

Information Retrieval Based on DOM Trees

[ES] Desde hace varios años, la cantidad de información disponible en la web crece de manera exponencial. Cada día se genera una gran cantidad de información que prácticamente de inmediato está disponible en la web. Los buscadores e indexadores recorren diariamente la web para encontrar toda esa información que se ha ido añadiendo y así, ponerla a disposición del usuario devolviéndola en los resultados de las búsquedas. Sin embargo, la cantidad de información es tan grande que debe ser preprocesada con anterioridad. Dado que el usuario que realiza una búsqueda de información solamente está interesado en la información relevante, no tiene sentido que los buscadores e indexadores procesen el resto de elementos de las páginas web. El procesado de elementos irrelevantes de páginas web supone un gasto de recursos innecesario, como por ejemplo espacio de almacenamiento, tiempo de procesamiento, uso de ancho de banda, etc. Se estima que entre el 40% y el 50% del contenido de las páginas web son elementos irrelevantes. Por eso, en los últimos 20 años se han desarrollado técnicas para la detección de elementos tanto relevantes como irrelevantes de páginas web. Este objetivo se puede abordar de diversas maneras, por lo que existen técnicas diametralmente distintas para afrontar el problema. Esta tesis se centra en el desarrollo de técnicas basadas en árboles DOM para la detección de diversas partes de las páginas web, como son el contenido principal, la plantilla, y el menú. La mayoría de técnicas existentes se centran en la detección de texto dentro del contenido principal de las páginas web, ya sea eliminando la plantilla de dichas páginas o detectando directamente el contenido principal. Las técnicas que proponemos no sólo son capaces de realizar la extracción de texto, sino que, bien por eliminación de plantilla o bien por detección del contenido principal, son capaces de aislar cualquier elemento relevante de las páginas web, como por ejemplo imágenes, animaciones, videos, etc. Dichas técnicas no sólo son útiles para buscadores y rastreadores, sino que también pueden ser útiles directamente para el usuario que navega por la web. Por ejemplo, en el caso de usuarios con diversidad funcional (como sería una ceguera) puede ser interesante la eliminación de elementos irrelevantes para facilitar la lectura (o escucha) de las páginas web. Para hacer las técnicas accesibles a todo el mundo, las hemos implementado como extensiones del navegador, y son compatibles con navegadores basados en Mozilla o en Chromium. Además, estas herramientas están públicamente disponibles para que cualquier persona interesada pueda acceder a ellas y continuar con la investigación si así lo deseara.[CA] Des de fa diversos anys, la quantitat d'informació disponible en la web creix de manera exponencial. Cada dia es genera una gran quantitat d'informació que immediatament es posa disponible en la web. Els cercadors i indexadors recorren diàriament la web per a trobar tota aqueixa informació que s'ha anat afegint i així, posar-la a la disposició de l'usuari retornant-la en els resultats de les cerques. No obstant això, la quantitat d'informació és tan gran que aquesta ha de ser preprocessada. Atés que l'usuari que realitza una cerca d'informació solament es troba interessat en la informació rellevant, no té sentit que els cercadors i indexadors processen la resta d'elements de les pàgines web. El processament d'elements irrellevants de pàgines web suposa una despesa de recursos innecessària, com per exemple espai d'emmagatzematge, temps de processament, ús d'amplada de banda, etc. S'estima que entre el 40% i el 50% del contingut de les pàgines web són elements irrellevants. Precisament per això, en els últims 20 anys s'han desenvolupat tècniques per a la detecció d'elements tant rellevants com irrellevants de pàgines web. Aquest objectiu es pot afrontar de diverses maneres, per la qual cosa existeixen tècniques diametralment diferents per a afrontar el problema. Aquesta tesi se centra en el desenvolupament de tècniques basades en arbres DOM per a la detecció de diverses parts de les pàgines web, com són el contingut principal, la plantilla, i el menú. La majoria de tècniques existents se centren en la detecció de text dins del contingut principal de les pàgines web, ja siga eliminant la plantilla d'aquestes pàgines o detectant directament el contingut principal. Les tècniques que hi proposem no sols són capaces de realitzar l'extracció de text, sinó que, bé per eliminació de plantilla o bé per detecció del contingut principal, són capaços d'aïllar qualsevol element rellevant de les pàgines web, com per exemple imatges, animacions, vídeos, etc. Aquestes tècniques no sols són útils per a cercadors i rastrejadors, sinó també poden ser útils directament per a l'usuari que navega per la web. Per exemple, en el cas d'usuaris amb diversitat funcional (com ara una ceguera) pot ser interessant l'eliminació d'elements irrellevants per a facilitar-ne la lectura (o l'escolta) de les pàgines web. Per a fer les tècniques accessibles a tothom, les hem implementades com a extensions del navegador, i són compatibles amb navegadors basats en Mozilla i en Chromium. A més, aquestes eines estan públicament disponibles perquè qualsevol persona interessada puga accedir a elles i continuar amb la investigació si així ho desitjara.[EN] For several years, the amount of information available on the Web has been growing exponentially. Every day, a huge amount of data is generated and it is made immediately available on the Web. Indexers and crawlers browse the Web daily to find the new information that has been added, and they make it available to answer the users' search queries. However, the amount of information is so huge that it must be preprocessed. Given that users are only interested in the relevant information, it is not necessary for indexers and crawlers to process other boilerplate, redundant or useless elements of the web pages. Processing such irrelevant elements lead to an unnecessary waste of resources, such as storage space, runtime, bandwidth, etc. Different studies have shown that between 40% and 50% of the data on the Web are noisy elements. For this reason, several techniques focused on the detection of both, relevant and irrelevant data, have been developed over the last 20 years. The problems of identifying the relevant content of a web page, its template, its menu, etc. can be faced in various ways, and for this reason, there exist completely different techniques to address those problems. This thesis is focused on the development of information retrieval techniques based on DOM trees. Its goal is to detect different parts of a web page, such as the main content, the template, and the main menu. Most of the existing techniques are focused on the detection of text inside the main content of the web pages, mainly by removing the template of the web page or by inferring the main content. The techniques proposed in this thesis do not only extract text by eliminating the template or inferring the main content, but also extract any other relevant information from web pages such as images, animations, videos, etc. Our techniques are not only useful for indexers and crawlers but also for the user browsing the Web. For instance, in the case of users with functional diversity problems (such as blindness), removing noisy elements can facilitate them to read (or listen to) the web pages. To make the techniques broadly accessible to everybody, we have implemented them as browser extensions, which are compatible with Mozilla-based and Chromium-based browsers. In addition, these tools are publicly available, so any interested person can access them and continue with the research if they wish to do so.Alarte Aleixandre, J. (2023). Information Retrieval Based on DOM Trees [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/19667

Quality modelling and metrics of Web-based information systems

In recent years, the World Wide Web has become a major platform for software applications. Web-based information systems have been involved in many areas of our everyday life, such as education, entertainment, business, manufacturing, communication, etc. As web-based systems are usually distributed, multimedia, interactive and cooperative, and their production processes usually follow ad-hoc approaches, the quality of web-based systems has become a major concern. Existing quality models and metrics do not fully satisfy the needs of quality management of Web-based systems. This study has applied and adapted software quality engineering methods and principles to address the following issues, a quality modeling method for derivation of quality models of Web-based information systems; and the development, implementation and validation of quality metrics of key quality attributes of Web-based information systems, which include navigability and timeliness. The quality modeling method proposed in this study has the following strengths. It is more objective and rigorous than existing approaches. The quality analysis can be conducted in the early stage of system life cycle on the design. It is easy to use and can provide insight into the improvement of the design of systems. Results of case studies demonstrated that the quality modeling method is applicable and practical. Practitioners can use the modeling method to develop their own quality models. This study is amongst the first comprehensive attempts to develop quality measurement for Web-based information systems. First, it identified the relationship between website structural complexity and navigability. Quality metrics of navigability were defined, investigated and implemented. Empirical studies were conducted to evaluate the metrics. Second, this study investigated website timeliness and attempted to find direct and indirect measures for the quality attribute. Empirical studies for validating such metrics were also conducted. This study also suggests four areas of future research that may be fruitful

Searching for superspreaders of information in real-world social media

A number of predictors have been suggested to detect the most influential spreaders of information in online social media across various domains such as Twitter or Facebook. In particular, degree, PageRank, k-core and other centralities have been adopted to rank the spreading capability of users in information dissemination media. So far, validation of the proposed predictors has been done by simulating the spreading dynamics rather than following real information flow in social networks. Consequently, only model-dependent contradictory results have been achieved so far for the best predictor. Here, we address this issue directly. We search for influential spreaders by following the real spreading dynamics in a wide range of networks. We find that the widely-used degree and PageRank fail in ranking users' influence. We find that the best spreaders are consistently located in the k-core across dissimilar social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Livejournal and scientific publishing in the American Physical Society. Furthermore, when the complete global network structure is unavailable, we find that the sum of the nearest neighbors' degree is a reliable local proxy for user's influence. Our analysis provides practical instructions for optimal design of strategies for "viral" information dissemination in relevant applications.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

The State-of-the-arts in Focused Search

The continuous influx of various text data on the Web requires search engines to improve their retrieval abilities for more specific information. The need for relevant results to a user’s topic of interest has gone beyond search for domain or type specific documents to more focused result (e.g. document fragments or answers to a query). The introduction of XML provides a format standard for data representation, storage, and exchange. It helps focused search to be carried out at different granularities of a structured document with XML markups. This report aims at reviewing the state-of-the-arts in focused search, particularly techniques for topic-specific document retrieval, passage retrieval, XML retrieval, and entity ranking. It is concluded with highlight of open problems