The LikeMinds Recommendation Engines

Learn about the three types of recommendation engines, Preference engine, Clickstream engine, and Item Affinity engine.

Following is a description of the three types of recommendation engines:

• Preference engine: This engine generates recommendations using patented collaborative filtering algorithms based on users' item ratings.

• Clickstream engine: This engine, which also accesses transaction information, generates recommendations based on users' actions as they navigate a Web site; that is, the history of user clicks during website visits, and the items that users view, click, and add to their shopping carts.
• Item Affinity engine: This engine generates recommendations based on the history of the user's site browsing activity. It matches a currently selected product with a second product that the user would most likely want to purchase along with the first product. For example, if a user is purchasing groceries and adds French onion soup to the shopping cart, the Item Affinity engine could recommend Gruyere cheese to go with it.

• Preference Engine The Preference Engine uses explicitly stated user preferences to make highly accurate recommendations for products and content that the site visitors like.
• Clickstream Engine The Clickstream Engine tracks clickstream (or rating) behavior and generates recommendations based on mentors who exhibit similar affinities.
• Item Affinity Engine The Item Affinity Engine generates recommendations based on any transactional history available.