GAUSSIAN RANKING USING MATRIX FACTORIZATION

In one embodiment of the present invention, a training engine teaches a matrix factorization model to rank items for users based on implicit feedback data and a rank loss function. In operation, the training engine approximates a distribution of scores to corresponding ranks as an approximately Gaussian distribution. Based on this distribution, the training engine selects an activation function that smoothly maps between scores and ranks. To train the matrix factorization model, the training engine directly optimizes the rank loss function based on the activation function and implicit feedback data. By contrast, conventional training engines that optimize approximations of the rank loss function are typically less efficient and produce less accurate ranking models.