Generalized random surfer-pair models

SimRank is a widely studied link-based similarity measure that is known for its simple, yet powerful philosophy that two nodes are similar if they are referenced by similar nodes. While this philosophy has been the basis of several improvements, there is another useful, albeit less frequently discussed interpretation for SimRank known as the Random Surfer-Pair Model. In this work, we show that other well known measures related to SimRank can also be reinterpreted using Random Surfer-Pair Models, and establish a mathematically sound, general and unifying framework for several link-based similarity measures. This also serves to provide new insights into their functioning and allows for using these measures in a Monte Carlo framework, which provides several computational benefits. As an illustration of its utility in designing measures, we develop a new measure based on two existing measures under this framework, and empirically demonstrate its efficacy.