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Abstract:We examine whether graph neural network (GNN) design rules generalize across benchmark families by studying aggregator selection (sum, mean, max) on 24 node-classification datasets spanning citation, heterophilic, LINKX Facebook-100, co-purchase, and co-authorship graphs. Edge homophily is only weakly predictive of the GIN-Sum versus GIN-Mean performance gap. Label informativeness predicts this gap well on legacy benchmarks but degrades substantially when Facebook-100 graphs are included. In these dense friendship networks, near-zero label informativeness coexists with a strong preference for sum aggregation, producing gains of 7-10% and up to 13% under extended training. Stochastic block model ablations, including degree-corrected variants matching Facebook-100 degree scales, fail to reproduce this behavior, indicating that mean degree alone does not explain the effect. Among several label-independent graph statistics, the spectral gap uniquely distinguishes these graphs from other low-informativeness datasets, with the effect localized to one-hop neighborhoods and replicated across architectures. We further identify training regimes that interact with aggregator choice and show that PNA can underperform the best single-aggregator GIN on standard citation benchmarks. Our results suggest that benchmark composition, rather than numerical insufficiency, determines whether design rules appear to generalize, and that the Facebook-100 regime provides a concrete target for future adaptive aggregation methods.

Submission history

From: Neha Sharma [view email]
[v1] Mon, 8 Jun 2026 23:36:14 UTC (811 KB)
[v2] Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:55:18 UTC (1 KB) (withdrawn)