4 ms·

A few years ago, I reverse-engineered the HN ranking algorithm [1]. Basic ranking is based on votes vs age, but there are numerous other factors. Penalties are

by kens 6y ago

A few years ago, I reverse-engineered the HN ranking algorithm [1]. Basic ranking is based on votes vs age, but there are numerous other factors. Penalties are applied based on words in the title or the domain. Posts with too many comments got penalized as controversial. A "voting ring detector" triggers other automatic penalties. HN ranking has probably become more complex since I looked at it. Manual moderation also impacts ranking. [1] http://www.righto.com/2013/11/how-hacker-news-ranking-really-works.html http://www.righto.com/2013/11/how-hacker-news-ranking-really...

duxup 6y ago
Interesting. I suspect the formula is changing if only because the sheer volume of spammy type stuff skyrocketing to the top seems to have subsided. There was a short run where a lot of nearly raw spam type posts were quickly rising to the top, and sticking a long time despite almost / all the comments being about how terrible the spam is.
- usr1106 6y ago
  That's why software should be open source. Ironically the article about google censorship ended up discussing whether there is hn censorship or whether it just magic ranking. With open source everybody could check whether there was censorship outside of any smart ranking algorithm.
  - DevKoala 6y ago
    No, you cannot open source a fraud prevention mechanism. You want to keep it secret.
    - CamperBob2 6y ago
      That sounds suspiciously like what used to be said of encryption.
      - rbanffy 6y ago
        If you have perfect fraud prevention rules that can't be gamed, then you can open-source them. It's just that nobody has ever found or invented them.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - duxup 6y ago
        Encryption seems to be by design not able to be manipulated. Not sure pagerank, moderation and similar systems have that built in.
    - usr1106 6y ago
      So how do you cheat the bitcoin blockchain?
jacquesm 6y ago
Good analysis, but - obviously - outdated and besides, the biggest input and wildcard is 'what are the penalties' and without knowing those the analysis is not super useful even if it is accurate to a rough approximation. Keeping the spammers out is already quite a bit of work so I'm perfectly OK with the secret sauce staying secret.

by kens 6y ago

duxup 6y ago

Interesting. I suspect the formula is changing if only because the sheer volume of spammy type stuff skyrocketing to the top seems to have subsided. There was a short run where a lot of nearly raw spam type posts were quickly rising to the top, and sticking a long time despite almost / all the comments being about how terrible the spam is.

usr1106 6y ago
That's why software should be open source. Ironically the article about google censorship ended up discussing whether there is hn censorship or whether it just magic ranking. With open source everybody could check whether there was censorship outside of any smart ranking algorithm.
- DevKoala 6y ago
  No, you cannot open source a fraud prevention mechanism. You want to keep it secret.
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    That sounds suspiciously like what used to be said of encryption.
    - rbanffy 6y ago
      If you have perfect fraud prevention rules that can't be gamed, then you can open-source them. It's just that nobody has ever found or invented them.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
    - duxup 6y ago
      Encryption seems to be by design not able to be manipulated. Not sure pagerank, moderation and similar systems have that built in.
  - usr1106 6y ago
    So how do you cheat the bitcoin blockchain?

jacquesm 6y ago

Good analysis, but - obviously - outdated and besides, the biggest input and wildcard is 'what are the penalties' and without knowing those the analysis is not super useful even if it is accurate to a rough approximation. Keeping the spammers out is already quite a bit of work so I'm perfectly OK with the secret sauce staying secret.