I spotted an inaccurate product match. What can I do to fix this error?

In this article (~7 min read):
1. The correlation between the accuracy of product matches and URLs
2. Best practices for fixing errors in product matches: standard, advanced, expert
3. Workflows for getting rid of errors for different pages 

During the daily price monitoring of the product report or matches page in your Competera dashboard, you spotted a discrepancy between the product in your online store and that of an online store you monitor. No worries, it is possible to correct this error right away and moreover prevent it from occurring again.

A quick dive into theory: during the matching process we collect URLs – the primary source of data when it comes to price, product availability, promotions, etc. A data spider then navigates through these URLs, reads off them during the scanning process and records data to dashboard afterwards. The link pointing to the wrong product will inevitably result in misleading a category manager. Therefore Competera team utilizes numerous techniques to verify obtained data before delivering it to the final user. However, mistakes happen.

If you noticed that the URL in your account brings up a wrong product in the online-store you monitor, the recommendations and best practices for troubleshooting errors in matches will be of help. 

Standard practice: report erroneous link to us

If you consider a match and a URL to a competitive product to be incorrect, but you are timebound to diagnose the issue on your own (or just aren't sure how you can influence and correct it) and you want us to take care of the rest, notify Competera support team with a single click on "Report error in URL". 

We will receive your request, process it, analyze and rectify the error within one business day. 

Advanced practice: delete this match and blacklist the wrong link

"Delete match and blacklist this URL" option comes in useful when you detected the incorrect link to the product in a store you monitor, double-checked and made sure there was indeed an error, and are confident this action is required. Double-checks are imperative, because both actions, deleting a match and blacklisting the URL, cannot be undone.

In this case, the resulting product pair, namely the match of a product in your store and the store you monitor, is deleted, and the incorrect URL is blacklisted and banned from further use specifically for this particular product. Thus blacklisting a URL surely prevents a potential error.

The confirmation pushes the status of a match to "Pending" and triggers a rematch. In this case, a product match will be processed according to the algorithm for newly imported products along with the data being delivered within the corresponding SLA (Service Level Agreement).

Expert practice: correct an error and fix the link on your own

Having detected an incorrect link to a competitive product, you double-checked and verified your conclusions about data accuracy. Moreover, you have the exact URL to this product in a store you monitor – replace the wrong URL in your account with the correct one on your own.

The match will be processed taking into account the newly received input, and the timely data will be delivered after the next scheduled scanning.

Each of these actions is available on several pages in your personal account: in the product card in the respective report, on the matches page, and in the old campaign view. Let’s consider each of these scenarios separately.

Product card in the report

Once navigated to Analytics > Products, find the needed product in the list and double-click its name – the product card will appear from the left. 

In the Market tab, clicking on the Details button (three dots) next to the name of a store in your monitoring opens a drop-down list. Select "Report error in URL", "Delete match and blacklist this URL" or "Edit URL/product option" to submit a request for the support team, delete the product match and blacklist the link or edit it respectively. 

Deleting a product match and blacklisting the URL is an irreversible action and cannot be undone, therefore this choice requires confirmation. 

Non-reporting options "Delete match and blacklist this URL" and "Edit URL/product option" are also accessible at a click on Details in the Matches tab.

You will as well find all actions for rectifying errors in product matches on the product page by clicking on "Product details" in the top-right corner. 

Matches page

Once on the matches page (Data delivery > Matches), you'll be able to access all aforementioned opportunities to correct a wrong product match. Although it should be noted that all options for rectifying errors are available for the matches with the "Found" status only. Scroll to the last column of the matches table and click on three dots. 

Select the necessary action "Report error in URL", "Delete match and blacklist this URL" or "Edit URL/product option" from the drop-down list. 

Old dashboard

In case you prefer working in the old interface of Competera, you can still rectify errors in product matches there by deleting a match and blacklisting the URL to a competitive product or editing it. 

To do this, navigate to Products section in the left-hand panel, find in the list and click on the name of the product, which match you'd like to delete or edit. On the product page click "Match with competitors" to access the URL and either delete and blacklist it by checking "Add to blacklist" mark or replace the erroneous URL with the correct one you found in advance. 

The workflow is pretty much the same as in the updated interface: the product is treated as a newly added one, thus it is subject to the rematch and scanning.  

Let us know whether this article was helpful 👍👎, and share your feedback in the comment section below.