Simple Suggestion / Recommendation Algorithm

Question

I am looking for a simple suggestion algorithm to implement in to my Web App. Much like Netflix, Amazon, etc... But simpler. I don\'t need teams of Phd\'s working to get a bette

Answer 1

You may wanna look at Association rule learning and Apriori algorithm. The basic idea behind is is that you create rules like "if User like Object1, than User likes Object2" and check how well they describe (your) reality. In your concrete example, this rule would have a Support of 2 (as two Users like Object1) and a confidence of 50% a (as the rule is true in 1 of 2 cases). I've just implemented a basic proofe of concept myself (actually my first steps on Hadoop) and it's not too difficult to do.

Alternatively, you may wanna look at Apache Mahout - Taste. I did't ever use it myself though.