Fuzzy Matching goes by many names including Jaro, Jaro Winkler, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Data Matching, Text Matching, String Matching, Record Linkage, Entity Resolution, Merge Purge, and many others.

Fuzzy Matching is an algorithm and a software function used to find similar text values, like similar names, similar addresses, and similar descriptions.

Fuzzy matching is the easiest, the fastest, and the most effective way to find duplicate records and to consolidate and merge records from multiple different files and databases.

We use fuzzy matching because people and companies use abbreviated names, nicknames, acronyms, and also longer, legal versions of our names, and we also change our contact information.

We use fuzzy matching because addresses, products, and assets are always described differently, so the data doesn’t always match.

We use fuzzy matching because misspellings can happen, and because the formatting isn’t always the same, and because some records contain less data than other records.

We use fuzzy matching because any one data set is likely to contain at least +10-20% duplicates and because the ‘same’ data in other related business systems will rarely match exactly, and will rarely share the same record ID, so we also use fuzzy matching to merge and consolidate relational data from disparate business systems.

We use fuzzy matching anytime we need to find duplicates or to compare or merge data from multiple different data sources, especially when the people, places and things being described in the data set, do not have ID numbers.

Even if the people, places and things being described in the data set do have ID numbers, we still might use fuzzy matching, because ID numbers can change over time, because some records may not contain ID numbers, and because ID numbers are not always correct or necessarily reliable. It’s not uncommon to find duplicate records with different ID numbers.

We also use fuzzy matching because people often enter the data differently for other purposes, for example a salesperson who creates a new, secondary account, to get the new customer commission rate, or the customer who enters their information twice with two different email addresses to get double the rewards.

Fuzzy Matching essentially compares data in one or multiple files or databases, across one or multiple columns, and produces pairs or groups of similar records, based on those records containing similar text, in specific columns.

Match Data Pro has been very carefully designed by experts making it much easier to use, much more configurable, and much more accurate than other fuzzy matching software on the market.

Give it a try (free) without any registration required: https://members.matchdatapro.com/register-anonymous-user