Ranking systems: the PageRank axioms

This paper initiates research on the foundations of ranking systems, a fundamental ingredient of basic e-commerce and Internet Technologies. In order to understand the essence and the exact rationale of page ranking algorithms we suggest the axiomatic approach taken in the formal theory of social choice. In this paper we deal with PageRank, the most famous page ranking algorithm. We present a set of simple (graph-theoretic, ordinal) axioms that are satisfied by PageRank, and moreover any page ranking algorithm that does satisfy them must coincide with PageRank. This is the first representation theorem of that kind, bridging the gap between page ranking algorithms and the mathematical theory of social choice. Categories and Subject Descriptors F.2 [Theory of Computation]: Analysis of Algorithms and Problem Complexity; G.2.2 [Discrete Mathematics]: Graph Theory; H.3.3 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Information Search and Retrieval General Terms Algorithms, Economics, Theory Keyw...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: SIGECOM
• Authors: Alon Altman, Moshe Tennenholtz
• Keywords: Page Ranking Algorithms, SIGECOM 2005, Social Choice, Theory