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Similar-Looking Text in Deduplication: Separate Normalization from Business Merging

Text from different systems may look the same, but may have different encoding forms; conversely, similar names may not necessarily represent the same object. This article refers to documents related to Unicode standardization to discuss pre-matching processing, original text retention and manual confirmation to help small teams reduce erroneous merges. Text standardization is a technical step and cannot replace the judgment of the identity of a company, product or person.

Chinese edition published 23 Oct 2026 · 阅读中文原文 ↗

Source timingPublic information and official documents; verified on October 23, 2026.

MDN introduces the normalized form of Unicode supported by String.normalize. This article uses this background for data matching design, and it is not recommended to blindly use the same conversion for all business fields.

The original text and matching text are saved separately.

To simulate supplier name sorting, you can retain the original name and generate auxiliary fields for comparison. Identical matches after conversion only indicate the need for further inspection and should not immediately overwrite the official name provided by the customer.

Different fields require different rules

Product codes, account numbers, and natural language titles have different meanings, and capitalization, full width, or symbols may carry differentiating effects. The rules should be confirmed by the business party, and the differences before and after conversion should be recorded to avoid losing information in order to improve the deduplication rate.

Create a candidate list before merging

Let humans check names, sources, and other reliable identifiers before processing associated records. Tests should cover similar but different objects, rather than just verify that duplicates are found. This article provides cleaning methods and does not promise to complete accurate identification based on text alone.

Extended reading: AI Entrepreneurship.

Sources and editorial notes

AI assists in organizing and writing, and editors check public sources. The main text is an independent analysis by ChinaOPC, with source facts and simulation plans separated; no interviews, financial audits or actual product testing have been conducted. Official documents are based on the original text of the source and have not been adapted or replaced. English translation of the Chinese edition, prepared with machine assistance and editorial checks. Source verification dates refer to the original Chinese research.

Source titles and publisher names are retained in their original language. Refer to the linked originals for official documents and current requirements.

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