Meta Event Match Quality (EMQ) is a score (0–10) shown in Meta Events Manager that indicates how well your conversion events are being matched to Meta user accounts. A higher score means Meta can reliably attribute those events to the correct Facebook or Instagram users, improving attribution accuracy, audience building, and ad optimisation. A low EMQ score (below 6.0) means a significant portion of your conversion events are going unmatched, reducing the effectiveness of your Meta Ads campaigns.
How Meta Event Match Quality Works
When your Pixel or CAPI sends a conversion event to Meta, it includes user data parameters (email, phone, fbp cookie, fbc cookie, IP address, user agent, name, location). Meta takes these parameters, hashes them, and tries to match them to a Facebook user account.
The EMQ score reflects how often Meta successfully makes that match, weighted by the quality and quantity of user data provided. Sending more identifiers (email + phone + location) produces a higher match rate than sending only the fbp cookie.
Common Causes of Low Event Match Quality
No email address sent with events
Email is the single most powerful identifier for Meta account matching. Most Facebook users have a consistent email tied to their account. If your purchase event sends only the fbp cookie and IP address but no email, the match rate is significantly lower.
Fix: Capture the customer’s email at checkout and send it hashed (SHA256) with every Purchase event via CAPI. In Shopify, the customer’s email is available at the order confirmation stage and can be passed to CAPI via a server-side integration.
Relying only on browser Pixel (no CAPI)
The browser-side Meta Pixel sends limited user data — primarily the fbp and fbc cookies plus IP and user agent. It cannot access the customer’s email unless additional JavaScript is written to capture it from the checkout form. CAPI server-side events have access to the full order data including email, phone, and address.
Fix: Implement Meta Conversions API. CAPI events sent from your server after order confirmation have access to complete customer data, significantly improving EMQ.
Missing or expired fbp cookie
The fbp cookie (Meta’s first-party browser cookie) is set when a user visits your site via a Meta ad or any site with the Meta Pixel. Safari’s ITP policy limits cookie lifespan to 7 days for cookies set by JavaScript, so users returning to your site more than 7 days after their last visit may not have a valid fbp cookie.
Fix: Extend the fbp cookie lifetime by setting it via your server (as a first-party cookie rather than a JavaScript cookie). This keeps the fbp value persistent beyond ITP’s 7-day limit.
No phone number sent
Phone number is the second-strongest identifier after email. Many users have their mobile number tied to their Facebook account for two-factor authentication.
Fix: If you collect phone numbers at checkout, send them hashed to CAPI alongside the email. Even if phone collection is optional in your store, the percentage of customers who do provide it improves your overall EMQ score.
Incorrect data format
Meta requires specific formatting before hashing. Emails must be lowercase. Phone numbers must include country code (e.g. +1 for USA). If you hash incorrectly formatted values, they will not match Meta’s stored records even if the underlying data is correct.
Fix: Before hashing, normalise all values: lowercase email, strip spaces from phone numbers, add country code, lowercase and trim all name/location fields. Only then apply SHA256 hashing.
Target EMQ Scores
- 8.0–10.0 (Excellent): strong matching. Email + phone + location + fbp/fbc all being sent and matched.
- 6.0–7.9 (Good): acceptable. Most purchase events are being matched. Email is likely being sent.
- 4.0–5.9 (Moderate): room for improvement. Email may be missing or only sent for some events. CAPI may not be implemented.
- Below 4.0 (Poor): significant attribution gaps. Only fbp/fbc and IP are likely being sent. CAPI implementation and email capture are urgent priorities.
How to Check Your EMQ Score
In Meta Business Manager, go to Events Manager → your Pixel → Overview tab. The Event Match Quality score appears next to each event in the event list. Click the score to see which parameters are contributing to it and which are missing.
Book your free Shopify tracking audit here and we will assess your current Event Match Quality scores, identify the specific missing parameters, and implement the CAPI setup needed to reach a score of 8.0 or above.