Multi-stage ranking optimization for selecting content

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer program instructions that when executed by a computer processor of an online system causes the processor to perform steps comprising:

• identifying a content evaluation pipeline comprising an order of a plurality of stages having one or more computer models for evaluating a likelihood of user interaction with a content item and the content evaluation pipeline selecting a decreasing number of content items, from each stage of the order, according to the order of the stages in the order;
• identifying a set of candidate modifications to modify one or more operational parameters of the content evaluation pipeline;
• for each candidate modification, determining a compute time value and a content selection value;
• and
• for a given amount of compute time, optimizing the one or more operational parameters based in part on the determined compute time values and the content selection values to increase the content selection value of the content evaluation pipeline.

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the processor of an online system causes the processor to perform steps comprising:
• identifying a content evaluation pipeline comprising an order of a plurality of stages having one or more computer models for evaluating a likelihood of user interaction with a content item and the content evaluation pipeline selecting a decreasing number of content items, from each stage of the order, according to the order of the stages in the order;
• identifying a set of candidate modifications to modify one or more operational parameters of the content evaluation pipeline;
• for each candidate modification, determining a compute time value and a content selection value;
• and
• for a given amount of compute time, optimizing the one or more operational parameters based in part on the determined compute time values and the content selection values to increase the content selection value of the content evaluation pipeline.