What is match rate?

Match rate is the first number any vendor quotes and the least comparable. It depends entirely on the list: the same source will match most of a list of large United States technology companies and much less of a list of small firms in a market it has not invested in.

A quoted rate is therefore a fact about the vendor's test list, not about yours. The only rate that means anything is the one you measure on a sample of your own data, which is why the ability to try a few hundred rows before committing is worth more than any number on a pricing page.

Match rate also says nothing about whether the matches are right. A source can match a high share of a list and be wrong about a meaningful fraction of them, and the two numbers have to be looked at together.