Trusted versus Untrusted Source

[jennyatpeterson]

I was wondering where I can get a clear definition of trusted versus untrusted source. Particularly, what is considered as "untrusted" according Marketo? BTW, I've not found the definition on this page, so please don't source this: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/administration/field-management/b.... Maybe it's just me.

Thank you!

[Beth_Massura · Accepted solution]

Hi Jenny, there isn't a universal definition for what is considered a trusted source vs. an untrusted source. It's ultimately what you/marketing operations/the data team/sales agree to consider a quality source vs. what is likely to introduce data errors. Maybe a list transcribed from a handwritten event attendance sheet would be untrusted if guesses were made about handwriting. Or if it's a purchased list (which is not recommended anyway) then there's the risk of the data being outdated or incorrect.

By blocking field updates from untrusted sources on important fields, and identifying the list import as untrusted, then this potentially dirty/erroneous data would not overwrite any values you already had. If the field was blank the data would still be added. You'll see the option to select trusted/untrusted on this list import dialog box:

List import dialog box with Trusted dropdown menu

However, if all your Marketo instance's fields have the same "Block Updates From" settings for both List import trusted source and List Import untrusted source (i.e. both are checked or both are unchecked), there is no difference/advantage to identifying a list import as trusted or untrusted.