{
  "altLabels": [
    "Rank Position Bias"
  ],
  "definition": "A user-behavior bias in which items shown at higher positions receive more attention, clicks, or interaction because of their position, independent of their true relevance.",
  "derivedRelations": [
    {
      "note": "Popularity bias concerns item popularity and exposure; position bias concerns the effect of display rank or position.",
      "target": "popularity-bias",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "target": "popularity-bias",
      "type": "related"
    }
  ],
  "distinctions": [
    {
      "reason": "Ranking orders items; position bias is a behavioral effect of the displayed order.",
      "statement": "Position Bias is not Ranking.",
      "target": "ranking",
      "targetLabel": "Ranking",
      "targetUri": "https://id.searchplex.net/ranking/"
    },
    {
      "reason": "Position bias is caused by where an item is displayed; relevance is the item's usefulness or topical fit for the information need.",
      "statement": "Position Bias is not Relevance.",
      "target": "relevance",
      "targetLabel": "Relevance",
      "targetUri": "https://id.searchplex.net/relevance/"
    }
  ],
  "id": "position-bias",
  "kind": "Phenomenon",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/",
  "links": [
    {
      "label": "Estimating Position Bias without Intrusive Interventions",
      "type": "definingReference",
      "url": "https://www.cs.cornell.edu/~adith/CfactSIGIR2019.pdf"
    }
  ],
  "modifiedAt": "2026-09-14T06:43:46Z",
  "prefLabel": "Position Bias",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "Searchplex",
    "url": "https://searchplex.net/"
  },
  "relations": [
    {
      "note": "Ranking orders items; position bias is a behavioral effect of the displayed order.",
      "target": "ranking",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "note": "Position bias is caused by where an item is displayed; relevance is the item's usefulness or topical fit for the information need.",
      "target": "relevance",
      "type": "notEquivalentTo"
    },
    {
      "target": "learning-to-rank",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "ranking",
      "type": "related"
    },
    {
      "target": "relevance",
      "type": "related"
    }
  ],
  "representations": {
    "html": "https://id.searchplex.net/position-bias/",
    "json": "https://id.searchplex.net/position-bias.json",
    "jsonld": "https://id.searchplex.net/position-bias.jsonld"
  },
  "scheme": "https://id.searchplex.net/scheme/",
  "scopeNote": "Position bias affects click logs, implicit feedback, learning-to-rank data, and evaluation based on user interactions. It is closely related to presentation bias but should not be treated as relevance itself.",
  "status": "published",
  "terms": [
    {
      "community": "academic",
      "label": "Presentation Bias",
      "usage": "nearSynonym"
    },
    {
      "community": "academic",
      "label": "Examination Bias",
      "usage": "nearSynonym"
    }
  ],
  "uri": "https://id.searchplex.net/position-bias/"
}