Recommending without short head

Abstract

We discuss a comprehensive study exploring the impact of recommender systems when recommendations are forced to omit popular items (short head) and to use niche products only (long tail). This is an interesting issue in domains, such as e-tourism, where product availability is constrained, "best sellers" most popular items are the first ones to be consumed, and the short head may eventually become unavailable for recommendation purposes. Our work provides evidence that the effects resulting from item consumption may increase the utility of personalized recommendations.