Targeting users of a social networking system based on interest intensity

A method, comprising:

• maintaining a plurality of user profile objects on a social networking system, the plurality of user profile objects representing a plurality of users of the social networking system;
• maintaining a plurality of edge objects connecting the plurality of user profile objects and a plurality of nodes in the social networking system, where a subset of the plurality of nodes represent a plurality of concepts;
• determining a prediction model for scoring a plurality of advertisements, where the prediction model includes at least one targeted interest intensity level in at least one of the plurality of concepts as at least one feature in the prediction model;
• determining a plurality of prediction scores for the plurality of advertisements for each user of the plurality of users based on the prediction model;
• and
• for a viewing user of the social networking system, providing an advertisement for display to the viewing user based on the prediction score of the advertisement.

A method, comprising:

• maintaining a plurality of user profile objects on a social networking system, the plurality of user profile objects representing a plurality of users of the social networking system;
• receiving an advertisement having targeting criteria identifying a targeted interest intensity level in an object in the social networking system;
• retrieving a plurality of edge objects on the social networking system associated with a subset of the plurality of users where each edge object is associated with the object identified in the targeting criteria of the advertisement;
• determining a plurality of prediction scores for the advertisement for the subset of the plurality of users associated with the plurality of edge objects, the plurality of prediction scores based upon a prediction model for scoring the advertisement;
• determining a targeting cluster of users for the advertisement based on the plurality of prediction scores of the subset of the plurality of users of the social networking system associated with the plurality of edge objects;
• and
• for a viewing user of the social networking system in the targeting cluster of users, providing the advertisement for display to the viewing user based on a prediction score for the advertisement for the viewing user.