Combating spam in tagging systems

ABSTRACT

Tagging systems allow users to interactively annotate a pool of shared resources using descriptive tags. As tagging systems are gaining in popularity, they become more susceptible to tag spam: misleading tags that are generated in order to increase the visibility of some resources or simply to confuse users. We introduce a framework for modeling tagging systems and user tagging behavior. We also describe a method for ranking documents matching a tag based on taggers' reliability. Using our framework, we study the behavior of existing approaches under malicious attacks and the impact of a moderator and our ranking method.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.3 Information Search and Retrieval

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.5 On-line Information Services

Keywords:
social systems, tag spam, tagging systems