Aperture Data Studio - Find duplicates step

The Find duplicates step uses powerful standardization and matching algorithms to group together records containing similar contact data (e.g. name, address, email, phone) and keep that information within a duplicates store. Each group of records, known as a cluster, is assigned a unique cluster ID and a match level. The step provides out-of-the-box functionality for the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, but is also completely configurable down to the most granular name and contact elements.

The Find duplicates step is most commonly used in a process to create a single customer view (SCV). The step helps you establish a duplicates store, which allows you to:

• Locate duplicate records within existing systems.
• Establish linkage across data silos.

The Find duplicates step is powered by Experian Match, an innovative data matching and linkage REST API. Once you’ve established your duplicates store, you can use Experian Match to search for and maintain records within it. Find out more.

This section covers key concepts related to the Find duplicates step.

A cluster is a collection of records that have been identified as representing the same entity using the Find duplicates rules. Each cluster is identified by a unique cluster ID.

Each match between two records will have one of the following confidence levels:

If your data has columns tagged already, this step will recognize the tagged columns and list them as Selected columns.  

This step will only recognize the following system-defined tags:

• Address
  • City
  • Country
  • County
  • Locality
  • Postal Code
  • Premise And Street
  • Province
  • State
  • Zip Code

• Date
• Email
• Generic String
• Phone
• Name
  • Forenames
  • Surname
  • Title
• Unique Id

You can apply different rulesets to columns with the same tag by using group IDs. 

For example, you may have delivery and billing addresses that you want to treat differently. You would tag both as an address, but create separate group IDs, allowing you to apply different rulesets: only accept an exact match for the billing address, but a close one for the delivery address.

To apply a group ID to one or more columns, use the left-hand side menu in Workflow Designer:

1. Right-click on the column.
2. Select Configure column and enter the value for Group ID.
3. Click Apply to save the changes. 

Experian Match creates blocks of similar records to assist with the generation of suitable candidate record pairs for scoring. Blocks are created from records that have the same blocking key values.

Blocking keys are created for each input record from combinations of the record’s elements that have been keyed. Keying is the process of encoding individual elements to the same representation so that they can be matched despite minor differences in spelling.

Click Undefined blocking keys to specify an Experian Match blocking key set. 

To view the default and define your own blocking key sets, go to Glossary > Experian Match blocking keys. Find out more about creating your own blocking keys.

A ruleset is a set of logical expressions (rules) that control how records are compared and how match statuses/levels are decided.

Click Undefined ruleset to specify an Experian Match ruleset. 

To view the default and define your own rulesets, go to Glossary > Experian Match rulesets. Find out more about creating your own rules.

The following default blocking keys and rulesets are available:

• Individual - groups records with similar names at similar addresses. For example, GBR_Individual_Default will find individuals in Great Britain. Note that emails, phone numbers, and other identifiers will not be taken into account, but can be added manually.
• Household - groups records with the same or similar family names at a similar address. For example, GBR_Household_Default will find households in Great Britain.
• Location -  groups records with similar addresses or locations. For example, GBR_Location_Default will find locations in Great Britain.

You can retain your duplicates store to disk, so it can be used for searching and maintenance operations.

Duplicates stores are retained to your machine's Data Studio repository, within an experianmatch sub-directory. However, if you have configured a separate instance of Experian Match, duplicates stores will be retained on that same machine.  

To retain a duplicates store:

1. Check the Retain the duplicates store checkbox.
2. Add a name for your duplicates store.
3. Click Show data to run the step and retain it to disk. 

Note that executing the entire workflow (instead of running the Find duplicates step separately within the workflow) will retain the duplicates store in the same way.

You can connect to either an embedded (in Data Studio) or a separate instance of Experian Match. By default, Data Studio will connect to the embedded instance, which will run automatically together with the Data Studio service. 

If this workflow step was disabled at startup, or you had told it to point at a separate Experian Match instance, you will have to restart Data Studio to connect back to the embedded instance.

If you've made any changes to the workflow or your data source after running the Find duplicates step, you may have to click Clear saved results to clear the cache containing the results. Note that this option will be disabled if there are no stored results/once the cache has been cleared.

If you can't find an answer or a solution, contact support.

If a match job fails to run or start, you will see an error:

To fix the issue, follow the instructions below:

1. Search for services from the start menu or go to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Services.
2. Locate Experian Aperture Data Studio {version number} Standardize Server, right-click it and select Properties.
3. Open the Log On tab.
4. Select This account and enter NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE as the account.
5. Click Apply to save changes.
6. Right-click on Experian Aperture Data Studio {version number} Standardize Server and select Start.