Web Mining aims to discover the informative knowledge from massive data
sources available on the Web by using data mining or machine learning approaches.
Different from conventional data mining techniques, in which data models are usually
in homogeneous and structured forms, Web mining approaches, instead, handle
semi-structured or heterogeneous data representations, such as textual, hyperlink
structure and usage information, to discover “nuggets” to improve the quality of services
offered by various Web applications. Such applications cover a wide range of
topics, including retrieving the desirable and related Web contents, mining and analyzing
Web communities, user profiling, and customizing Web presentation according
to users preference and so on. For example,Web recommendation and personalization
is one kind of these applications in Web mining that focuses on identifying
Web users and pages, collecting information with respect to users navigational preference
or interests as well as adapting its service to satisfy users needs.