Mutual relationship cliques

When detected, reports will include information about pairs and cliques (groups) of domains with mutual backlinks referral relationships. Cliques can indicate groups of domains that belong to the same organisation, or other forms of connection (potentially commercial).

Mutual relationships

Sometimes links will exist in both directions between a pair of domains. In the illustration below, domain B has one or more links to domain A, and domain A has one or more links to domain B:

This is an instance of a 'mutual relationship', where there are TWO backlinks referral relationships between the domains.

Mutual relationship cliques

A mutual relationship clique exists when two, three or more domains are connected by mutual backlinks referral relationships. A domain can be part of a clique by having mutual backlinks referral relationships with at least ONE other domain in that clique. In the illustration below, domains A, B, C, and D form a clique:

In the main visualisation of a report interactive, the 'mutual relationships' view darkens all domains and relationships that are not part of a clique, making it easier to see detected cliques:

If mutual relationship cliques are detected, a report interactive will contain a second visualisation that shows ONLY the cliques. For added simplicity, this second visualisation shows domains and their links relationships:

Visualising mutual relationship cliques

In the report interactive, you can view mutual relationship cliques in two ways:

• Quick analysis > Cliques shows a subgraph of the modelled ecosystem, focusing on cliques of domains connected via mutual relationships, whilst applying the domain type palette
• Quick analysis > Cliques & bridges is almost identical to the cliques subgraph, but adds edges for non-mutual relationships that exist within and between the cliques