Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way digital advertising works – making campaigns smarter, faster, and more efficient. One of Meta’s key innovations driving this change is the EMQ (Event Match Quality) system. It helps advertisers understand how n well their customer data connects with Meta’s platforms, leading to better targeting and optimized results.
In simple terms, Meta’s EMQ ensures that your ads reach the right audience at the right time, improving performance and maximizing return on ad spend. It’s like giving your campaigns a brain that learns, adapts, and refines results automatically.
In this blog, we will discuss what Meta’s EMQ is, how it works, and how it simplifies the world of AI-driven advertising for marketers everywhere.
Jump ahead to:
What is Event Match Quality (EMQ)
Event Match Quality (EMQ) is a score (ranging from 0 to 10) that Facebook assigns to your pixel or Conversions API events based on the quality of customer data you provide. When this data is passed along with a user action (like a purchase or form submission), Facebook tries to match it to real users in their system. The higher the match rate, the higher your EMQ score.
A high Event Match Quality helps Facebook to:
- Track conversions more accurately
- Attribute actions to the right campaigns
- Build better retargeting and lookalike audiences
- Improve overall ad delivery and performance
In short, EMQ is a direct reflection of how well Facebook can connect your ad traffic with real people. And improving it can seriously boost your results.
How EMQ Works
Each server-side event you send through Meta’s Conversion API (CAPI) – such as a purchase, checkout, or add-to-cart – receives an EMQ score between 1 and 10. This score reflects the strength of the match between the event data and a Meta user profile.
The score depends on how complete and accurate your customer information is. The more high-quality identifiers you include (like email addresses, phone numbers, external IDs, IP addresses, or browser data), the better Meta can match that event to the right user.
How EMQ is Calculated
Meta calculates EMQ based on the data parameters included in your Conversion API events. Only the most recent 48 hours of event data are analyzed to determine your EMQ score.
Every identifier you send contributes to the overall score – some carry more weight than others. Parameters like email, phone, and external ID are considered more valuable for matching, while others like browser details or IP address support and strengthen the match.
Also Read: Facebook Event Manager: Everything You Need to Know
How to check your EMQ Score
To view your Event Match Quality score:
- Go to Meta Events Manager
- Select your Pixel or Conversions API data source
- Navigate to the Overview or Diagnostics tab
- Click into individual events (like Purchase or Lead) you’ll see the EMQ score listed alongside match parameters and data diagnostics
This section helps you pinpoint which events need attention and what data fields (like email, phone, or location) may be missing or poorly formatted.
Also Read: Event Manager in Meta Explained
What EMQ Is Not
It’s important to understand that Event Match Quality (EMQ) is not a direct reflection of your data quality. Instead, it’s an estimate of Meta’s ability to match incoming event data to a user profile on its platforms.
In other words, EMQ doesn’t verify whether your data is accurate – it only measures how much usable data (or data availability) you’re providing in your event requests.
Here’s what that means in practice:
Even if the information you send isn’t entirely reliable or correctly formatted, you could still see a high EMQ score. That’s because EMQ is evaluated at the point when data is received (data ingestion), not after Meta confirms whether it truly matches an existing user account.
So, while a higher EMQ score might look good, it doesn’t always guarantee high-quality or verified data. It simply indicates that you’ve included more identifiers that could help with matching.
Why Does Meta Go Through All This Effort?
You might be wondering – why does Meta invest so much effort into building systems like EMQ and Conversion API? The answer lies in one major industry shift: cookie depreciation.
As privacy rules tighten and browsers phase out third-party cookies, Meta can no longer track users across websites as accurately as before. Factors like ad blockers, shorter cookie lifespans (7-day expiry), VPNs, third-party checkouts, and offline purchases have led to massive signal loss – sometimes as high as 70%.
To overcome this, Meta needs an alternative way to capture conversion data. That’s where Conversion API (CAPI) steps in. CAPI allows advertisers to send event data directly from their servers to Meta, bypassing browser limitations. EMQ then evaluates how valuable and usable that incoming data is for matching and optimization.
However, chasing a higher EMQ score without maintaining data integrity can backfire. Some marketers resort to shortcuts like:
- Using unreliable reverse IP lookups
- Guessing user attributes such as gender
- Converting emails into names using weak algorithms
- Incorrectly stitching user journeys
- Employing flawed fingerprinting methods
What Is a Good EMQ
While these tactics might temporarily boost your EMQ score, they introduce inaccurate or low-quality data into Meta’s system. This misinformation spreads through Meta’s models, ultimately hurting your ad performance and reducing the platform’s ability to match events to real users.
In short, a higher EMQ score means nothing without data accuracy. Quality inputs always lead to better optimization outcomes.
A strong Event Match Quality (EMQ) score generally falls between 7 and 10. But it’s important to remember that not all events carry the same weight – and their ideal EMQ scores can vary depending on where they sit in your conversion funnel.
1. Bottom-of-Funnel Events (High-Value Actions)
Events like Purchase, Add Payment Info, or Complete Registration happen later in the customer journey. By this point, you usually have more user data (like email or phone), which helps Meta create stronger matches.
– Good EMQ Score: 8.5 or higher
2. Mid-Funnel Events (Engagement Signals)
Actions such as Add to Cart or Initiate Checkout occur when a user is actively considering a product. These are valuable for optimization because they show strong intent but may have slightly fewer identifiers than a purchase.
– Good EMQ Score: 6.5 or higher
3. Top-of-Funnel Events (Awareness & Discovery)
Early interactions like Page View or View Content often have limited user data but still serve as useful indicators of interest – especially for retargeting campaigns.
– Good EMQ Score: 5.5 or higher
The closer an event is to conversion, the higher your EMQ score should ideally be. Maintaining a robust Conversion API setup ensures consistent data quality across all stages of your funnel, helping Meta better optimize your campaigns and improve performance.
Also Read: Improve your Facebook (Meta) Event Match Quality Score
How EasyInsights Improves EMQ Using CRM-Driven CAPI
One of the most reliable ways to improve your Event Match Quality (EMQ) and strengthen attribution is by sending clean, structured first-party data directly to Meta through the Conversions API (CAPI) – especially when this data comes from your CRM.
That’s exactly what EasyInsights.ai is designed for. Here’s how we make it effortless:
- We integrate your CRM, website, and backend systems with Meta using a unified tracking engine that sends enriched, properly hashed, and structured user data with every important event.
- Your CRM data stays perfectly in sync with Meta through both the Pixel and CAPI, ensuring each event carries accurate and complete first-party identifiers.
- Key identifiers such as email, phone number, and location are automatically formatted and hashed, boosting match rates and improving EMQ.
- This delivers better signal quality and sharper attribution – all without requiring code changes or workflow adjustments.
- No more manual data exports or engineering delays. Just clean, compliant, high-quality data flowing exactly where it’s needed. Whether you’re optimizing for leads, purchases, or retention, EasyInsights ensures your data delivers maximum impact.
Conclusion
Improving your Event Match Quality (EMQ) is one of the most impactful steps you can take to unlock better performance from your Meta ads. Stronger EMQ means more accurate attribution, smarter targeting, and higher return on ad spend – all powered by better data.
Whether you’re using the Pixel, Conversions API, or both, the key is clean, complete, and properly formatted customer data.
EasyInsights.ai helps you streamline and enrich your data flow – from your CRM, website, or backend, so Meta gets the highest-quality signals with every event. Ready to boost your EMQ and scale smarter?
Book a Demo today, with EasyInsights!
