Match quality directly determines how well the platforms’ algorithms can identify the people you’re telling them to find more of. A 5/10 match score means the algorithm is effectively guessing about half of every audience and lookalike. A 9/10 means it has clean signal almost every time.
The diagnosis checklist
Walk through these in order. Stop when you find the issue and re-measure match quality after each change.
- Hashed email on every event (not just Purchase) — check Cometly Event Manager
- Hashed phone on every event where collected — check the form schema
- IP + user agent — should be automatic via Cometly server-side
- Click ID (`fbclid`, `gclid`, `li_fat_id`) captured at landing as hidden form field
- Click ID forwarded to the conversion event payload — verify in CAPI logs
- Events sent server-side via CAPI, not browser-only
- Deduplication key (event_id) shared between Pixel and CAPI
- Deeper-funnel events (Demo Booked, New Customer) being sent — they carry richer payloads than Lead
Per-platform quirks
Meta scores match quality 0–10. Below 7 is poor; 8.5+ is excellent. Most issues come from missing fbclid or hashed phone.
Google rates Enhanced Conversions as 'Poor / Good / Excellent.' OCI shows match rate as a percentage. Most issues come from missing GCLID at landing.
LinkedIn shows match rate per audience and event. Most issues come from missing hashed email or li_fat_id.
What to watch for.
- Treating match quality as a fixed number
It can be moved with configuration changes. If yours is below 8, there’s usually a specific identifier missing.
- Sending only browser-side events
iOS, ITP, and ad blockers all reduce browser-side match quality. CAPI is the durable layer.
- Forgetting click ID capture
Without fbclid/gclid/li_fat_id on the conversion event, the platforms can’t connect the conversion to a specific click. Capture as hidden fields on every landing form.
Recap.
- Check that hashed email is being sent on every event — not just Purchase
- Add hashed phone, IP, and user agent as additional matchers
- Capture the click ID (`fbclid`, `gclid`, `li_fat_id`) on landing and pass it through to the conversion event
- Send events server-side via Conversion API, not browser-only
- Push deeper-funnel events (Demo Booked, New Customer) — they carry more identifying info than Lead events