Match score
- Also called Match rate
- Updated October 28, 2026
Match score is the number Meta shows in the Audiences page for a customer list custom audience: a score out of ten for how much of your uploaded list it could match to people on Facebook and Instagram. It reflects the last successful upload only. A low score means a smaller audience than the file suggests, and more identifiers per customer is how you raise it.
How does Meta define match score?
On Meta's How to use custom or lookalike audiences page, in nearly the same words as its customer list formatting guidelines:
The Audience column Match score (which you can add by selecting Columns in the top right) shows a score out of ten for how well identifiers in your customer list have matched profiles on Meta platforms in your last successful upload. Adding more Emails, Phone numbers and Device IDs can improve your match score (see our customer list formatting guidelines).
How it is worked out: the score is calculated "by dividing matched rows by uploaded rows", and it "only appears in increments of 0.5". It also doesn't stay forever: "Match score has limited retention, so if you don't see a score you may need to update your list."
Is match score the same as match rate?
They describe the same thing. Meta's About customer list custom audiences page uses "match rate" for the share of the list Meta can link to profiles: "The more information you can provide, the better the match rate (which means our ability to make the matches)." Match score is the column in Ads Manager that reports it. The data is hashed before matching, and Meta says it "doesn't learn any new identifying information about your customers from hashed data."
How do you improve your match score?
Meta's Customer list formatting guidelines set the rules. A list should "be either CSV or TXT files", "include at least 1,000 customers" and "include at least one main identifier".
| Identifier | What Meta says |
|---|---|
| "We accept email addresses in up to 3 separate columns." | |
| Phone | "Phone numbers must include a country code to be used for matching, even if they're all from the same country." |
| Country | "Countries must be provided as an ISO two-letter country code", because "we match on a global scale" |
| ZIP code | A 4-digit extension "is not required and will not further improve match rate." |
| Name, city, date of birth and others | Additional identifiers, "along with at least one main identifier to increase the chances of getting a better match rate." |
The main identifiers are email, phone, mobile advertiser ID, Facebook app user ID and Facebook Page user ID. Meta recommends including "more main identifiers to increase the chances of getting a better match rate."
Mobile advertiser IDs alone may match less well. The customer list page notes that iOS 14 changes "may affect your match rate when matching by mobile advertiser ID", and suggests adding email, phone number, name or the Facebook user IDs alongside it.
What it means for your ads
- Read the score before you size a campaign. By Meta's formula, a list of 10,000 customers with a score of 5 holds closer to 5,000 matched people.
- Add the phone column, with country codes. Phone numbers are one of the identifiers Meta says improve the score, and without a country code a number can't be used for matching.
- An empty score column means the list needs an update, under Meta's retention rule; re-upload to see the score again. A list "hasn't been updated in over 30 days" also shows as Outdated, which Meta says "may impact your ad delivery".
- Seed lookalikes from your best-matched list. A customer list can be the source of a lookalike audience, and a low score leaves fewer matched people in that source.
Common mistakes
- Uploading one identifier per customer when you hold three. Each extra main identifier is another chance to match.
- Exporting phone numbers without the country code because every customer is domestic. The formatting page repeats the rule in a note under its phone row: include the code "even if all of your data is from the same country."
Sources
- How to use custom or lookalike audiences — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
- Customer list formatting guidelines for custom audiences — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
- About customer list custom audiences — Meta Business Help Center (accessed October 28, 2026)
Meta revises these pages without notice, so check the source before acting on any of it.
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