We have been asked a few times now for a more detailed explanation of how the Match weightings work and how they affect the Match score.
The purpose of the Match weighting is to allow you to determine the importance that you want to place on each data description.
The match score is calculated by adding together the score of all the data descriptions and dividing by the number of descriptions. The weighting determines what percentage of the score for each data description is applied to the match score.
The example below will show how the match weighting affects the match score:
- Company Name – Weighting 100%
- Address – Weighting 100%
- City – Weighting 50%
- Postcode – Weighting 100%
Each description adds to the match score as below:
- Company Name contribution to MatchScore = (100% / 350% = approx 29%)
- Address contribution to MatchScore = (100% / 350% = approx 29%)
- City contribution to MatchScore = (50% / 350% = approx 14%)
- Postcode contribution to MatchScore = (100% / 350% = approx 29%)
Therefore by adjusting the match weighting you can determine the importance and contribution that each data description adds to the match score and can therefore adjust these weightings to help find new matches emphasising different elements of your data.
