Popularity Ratio Maximization: Surpassing Competitors through Influence Propagation

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Liao, Hao, Bi, Sheng, Wu, Jiao, Zhang, Wei, Zhou, Mingyang, Mao, Rui, Chen, Wei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Liao, Hao
Bi, Sheng
Wu, Jiao
Zhang, Wei
Zhou, Mingyang
Mao, Rui
Chen, Wei
author_facet Liao, Hao
Bi, Sheng
Wu, Jiao
Zhang, Wei
Zhou, Mingyang
Mao, Rui
Chen, Wei
contents In this paper, we present an algorithmic study on how to surpass competitors in popularity by strategic promotions in social networks. We first propose a novel model, in which we integrate the Preferential Attachment (PA) model for popularity growth with the Independent Cascade (IC) model for influence propagation in social networks called PA-IC model. In PA-IC, a popular item and a novice item grab shares of popularity from the natural popularity growth via the PA model, while the novice item tries to gain extra popularity via influence cascade in a social network. The popularity ratio is defined as the ratio of the popularity measure between the novice item and the popular item. We formulate Popularity Ratio Maximization (PRM) as the problem of selecting seeds in multiple rounds to maximize the popularity ratio in the end. We analyze the popularity ratio and show that it is monotone but not submodular. To provide an effective solution, we devise a surrogate objective function and show that empirically it is very close to the original objective function while theoretically, it is monotone and submodular. We design two efficient algorithms, one for the overlapping influence and non-overlapping seeds (across rounds) setting and the other for the non-overlapping influence and overlapping seed setting, and further discuss how to deal with other models and problem variants. Our empirical evaluation further demonstrates that the proposed PRM-IMM method consistently achieves the best popularity promotion compared to other methods. Our theoretical and empirical analyses shed light on the interplay between influence maximization and preferential attachment in social networks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_14971
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Popularity Ratio Maximization: Surpassing Competitors through Influence Propagation
Liao, Hao
Bi, Sheng
Wu, Jiao
Zhang, Wei
Zhou, Mingyang
Mao, Rui
Chen, Wei
Social and Information Networks
In this paper, we present an algorithmic study on how to surpass competitors in popularity by strategic promotions in social networks. We first propose a novel model, in which we integrate the Preferential Attachment (PA) model for popularity growth with the Independent Cascade (IC) model for influence propagation in social networks called PA-IC model. In PA-IC, a popular item and a novice item grab shares of popularity from the natural popularity growth via the PA model, while the novice item tries to gain extra popularity via influence cascade in a social network. The popularity ratio is defined as the ratio of the popularity measure between the novice item and the popular item. We formulate Popularity Ratio Maximization (PRM) as the problem of selecting seeds in multiple rounds to maximize the popularity ratio in the end. We analyze the popularity ratio and show that it is monotone but not submodular. To provide an effective solution, we devise a surrogate objective function and show that empirically it is very close to the original objective function while theoretically, it is monotone and submodular. We design two efficient algorithms, one for the overlapping influence and non-overlapping seeds (across rounds) setting and the other for the non-overlapping influence and overlapping seed setting, and further discuss how to deal with other models and problem variants. Our empirical evaluation further demonstrates that the proposed PRM-IMM method consistently achieves the best popularity promotion compared to other methods. Our theoretical and empirical analyses shed light on the interplay between influence maximization and preferential attachment in social networks.
title Popularity Ratio Maximization: Surpassing Competitors through Influence Propagation
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.14971