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PageRank can be interpreted as the amount of an imaginary fluid that collects at different nodes in a web graph. I would like to know what the relationship is between this imaginary fluid and actual web traffic? Can the fluid be interpreted as an "aggregated" measure of idealized web traffic, after considering entry and exit rates at each node?

I'm providing my best attempt at an interpretation below:

Within any one iteration of the algorithm, traffic enters and exits at various nodes in the network, at different rates. However, at the most popular nodes, the rate of entry will be greater than the rate of exit, and therefore, it will collect fluid (idealized web surfers) over time.

Is this a good interpretation?

Joebevo
  • 1,439
  • Not really. (A) Page rank is more about useful links in and out rather than traffic. (B) It is more similar to a Markov chain where the flow of whatever it is is the same in and out, with some sites having more useful flow than others (they have links from useful sites and links to useful sites); the sites these useful ones point to then are those which do well in Page Rank. – Henry Sep 10 '18 at 07:18

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