Data 360 Consultant Identity Resolution Practice Question
An administrator notices that after adding a new Contact Point Phone match rule to an existing identity resolution ruleset, the number of unified profiles decreased drastically. What is the underlying reason for this?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The new match rule introduced broad matching criteria that bridged separate customer clusters together, causing over-merging.
Adding a new match rule with broad criteria (such as phone numbers shared among family members) can cause previously separate clusters to bridge together, resulting in a dramatic drop in unified profile counts (over-merging).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reconciliation rules overrode the match rules and deleted conflicting profiles.
Why it's wrong here
Reconciliation rules determine field survivorship, not the deletion or count of profile records.
- ✓
The new match rule introduced broad matching criteria that bridged separate customer clusters together, causing over-merging.
Why this is correct
Broad match rules (like shared household phone numbers) link unrelated individuals into a single unified profile.
- ✗
The Contact Point Phone DMO failed to map correctly, causing all phone data to be ignored.
Why it's wrong here
If mapping failed, the rule would typically error or yield zero matches, not cause a massive merge drop.
- ✗
Data Cloud automatically purges historical profiles whenever a match rule is edited.
Why it's wrong here
Data Cloud does not purge historical profiles upon editing rules; it recalculates based on new logic.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Salesforce exam blueprint
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