Method and apparatus for selecting a network resource as a source of content for a recommendation system

A server comprising:

• a data storage medium;
• a network interface configured for communication over a communication network;
• a processor operationally coupled to the data storage medium and the network interface, the processor being configured to:
• prior to acquiring a content recommendation request from the given user:
• acquire an indication of the network resource, the network resource to be processed to determine its suitability as a source of a content item, the content item to be analyzed by a recommendation system as part of a plurality of content items to generate a set of recommended content items as a recommendation for a given user of the recommendation system;
• receive a plurality of features associated with the network resource;
• generate a given network resource profile for the network resource, the given network resource profile being based on the plurality of features;
• execute a machine learning algorithm in order to, based on the given network resource profile, determine a source suitability parameter for the network resource, the source suitability parameter being indicative of the network resource being susceptible to publishing a content item that can be processed by the recommendation system;
• acquire the content recommendation request from the given user;
• select at least one content item from the network resource if the source suitability parameter is determined to be above a pre-determined threshold, the at least one content item for submitting to the recommendation system for processing;
• and
• generate the content recommendation for the given user, the content recommendation including the at least one content item from the network resource.