Random Surfers on a Web Encyclopedia

TL;DR

This paper compares the classical random surfer model to actual user navigation data on a Web Encyclopedia, revealing that search engines significantly alter browsing behavior and traditional navigation structures are less influential.

Contribution

It provides a comparison of the random surfer's stationary distribution with empirical data and offers insights into how search engines have changed user navigation patterns.

Findings

Random surfer behavior closely matches user navigation without search engines.

Search engines significantly change user browsing behavior.

Traditional navigation aids like hierarchies have limited influence today.

Abstract

The random surfer model is a frequently used model for simulating user navigation behavior on the Web. Various algorithms, such as PageRank, are based on the assumption that the model represents a good approximation of users browsing a website. However, the way users browse the Web has been drastically altered over the last decade due to the rise of search engines. Hence, new adaptations for the established random surfer model might be required, which better capture and simulate this change in navigation behavior. In this article we compare the classical uniform random surfer to empirical navigation and page access data in a Web Encyclopedia. Our high level contributions are (i) a comparison of stationary distributions of different types of the random surfer to quantify the similarities and differences between those models as well as (ii) new insights into the impact of search engines on traditional user navigation. Our results suggest that the behavior of the random surfer is almost similar to those of users - as long as users do not use search engines. We also find that classical website navigation structures, such as navigation hierarchies or breadcrumbs, only exercise limited influence on user navigation anymore. Rather, a new kind of navigational tools (e.g., recommendation systems) might be needed to better reflect the changes in browsing behavior of existing users.