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NDCG

Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain - measures ranking quality.

Overview

Field Value
Type Retrieval
Range [0, 1]
Higher is better Yes

Formula

\[DCG@k = \sum_{i=1}^{k} \frac{rel_i}{\log_2(i+1)}\]
\[NDCG@k = \frac{DCG@k}{IDCG@k}\]

Where IDCG is the ideal DCG (perfect ranking).

Interpretation

Score Meaning
1.0 Perfect ranking
0.8 Good ranking
0.5 Moderate ranking
0.0 No relevant docs

When to Use

Use when the order of results matters, not just their presence:

  • Search result ranking
  • Recommendation systems
  • Any task where position affects user experience

Configuration

_target_: autorag_research.evaluation.metrics.retrieval.NDCGConfig

Reference

Jarvelin & Kekalainen, 2002