# Estimating Treatment Effects under Algorithmic Interference: A Structured Neural Networks Approach

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14380 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.14380/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 20 Jun 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Balancing Interference and Correlation in Spatial Experimental Designs: A Causal Graph Cut Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.20130/) (2025)
- [Double Machine Learning for Causal Inference under Shared-State Interference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08836/) (2025)
- [Designing Time Series Experiments in A/B Testing with Transformer Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.01853/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Online user-generated content platforms allocate billions of dollars of promotional traffic through algorithms in two-sided marketplaces. To evaluate updates to these algorithms, platforms frequently rely on creator-side randomized experiments. However, because treated and control creators compete for exposure, such experiments suffer from algorithmic interference: exposure outcomes depend on competitors' treatment status. We show that commonly used difference-in-means estimators can therefore be severely biased and may even recommend deploying inferior algorithms. To address this challenge, we develop a structured semiparametric framework that explicitly models the competitive allocation mechanism underlying exposure. Our approach combines an algorithm choice model that characterizes how exposure is allocated across competing content with a viewer response model that captures engagement conditional on exposure. We construct a debiased estimator grounded in the double machine learning framework to recover the global treatment effect of platform-wide rollout. Methodologically, we extend DML asymptotic theory to accommodate correlated samples arising from overlapping consideration sets. Using Monte Carlo simulations and a large-scale field experiment on a major short-video platform, we show that our estimator closely matches an interference-free benchmark obtained from a costly double-sided experimental design. In contrast, standard estimators exhibit substantial bias and, in some cases, even reverse the sign of the effect.