DETERMINING VALUES FOR A CHARACTERISTIC OF AN ONLINE SYSTEM USER BASED ON A REFERENCE GROUP OF USERS

摘要

An online system predicts values of a target characteristic for users in a set of users based on a reference set of users having known values for the target characteristic. Using descriptive characteristics of users in the reference set of users and target characteristic values for users in the reference set, the online system generates a model predicting values of the target characteristic based on user descriptive characteristics. The online system applies a global constraint on the target characteristic when generating the model, so the model extrapolates from the reference data while achieving aggregate results for values of the target characteristic that are consistent with the global constraint. The global constraint may be obtained from census data or another suitable global aggregate survey. Using the global constraint in the model avoids inaccuracies in reporting of user metrics.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
retrieving a reference group of users of an online system each having a known value associated with a target characteristic and associated with one or more other descriptive characteristics; retrieving one or more constraints associated with the target characteristic based on a population of users including a greater number of users than the reference group; generating a model from the one or more descriptive characteristics of the retrieved reference group of users each having information associated with the target characteristic, the model determining a value of the target characteristic for each of the individual users in the population subject to a condition that the target characteristic aggregated across the population satisfies a constraint; and determining imputed values for the target characteristic for one or more users of the online system not included in the reference group by applying the model to descriptive characteristics associated with each of the one or more users.