Approximate vs exact match in Google Sheets - Dashboard Approaches Compared

Dashboard Mode - Approximate vs exact match

Dashboard Goal

This dashboard helps you understand the difference between approximate and exact match lookups in Google Sheets. It answers: How do exact and approximate matches affect the results when searching for values?

Sample Data

Product ID	Product Name	Price
1001	Apple	1.20
1003	Banana	0.50
1005	Carrot	0.30
1007	Date	1.50
1010	Eggplant	2.00

Note: Product IDs are sorted ascending for approximate match.

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card 1: Exact Match Lookup
  =VLOOKUP(1003, A2:C6, 2, FALSE)
  Result: Banana (finds exact Product ID 1003)
• KPI Card 2: Approximate Match Lookup
  =VLOOKUP(1004, A2:C6, 2, TRUE)
  Result: Banana (finds closest Product ID less than or equal to 1004)
• KPI Card 3: Exact Match Not Found
  =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(1004, A2:C6, 2, FALSE), "Not found")
  Result: Not found (no exact 1004)
• Table: Lookup Inputs and Results
  

  Lookup ID	Exact Match Result	Approximate Match Result
  1003	=VLOOKUP(1003, A2:C6, 2, FALSE)	=VLOOKUP(1003, A2:C6, 2, TRUE)
  1004	=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(1004, A2:C6, 2, FALSE), "Not found")	=VLOOKUP(1004, A2:C6, 2, TRUE)
  1006	=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(1006, A2:C6, 2, FALSE), "Not found")	=VLOOKUP(1006, A2:C6, 2, TRUE)

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+-------------------------+
| Exact Match Lookup   | Approximate Match Lookup |
| (KPI Card 1)        | (KPI Card 2)             |
+----------------------+-------------------------+
| Exact Match Not Found| Lookup Inputs & Results  |
| (KPI Card 3)        | (Table)                  |
+----------------------+-------------------------+

Interactivity

You can change the Lookup ID in the table to any number. The exact and approximate match formulas update automatically to show how results differ. This helps you see when exact matches fail and approximate matches find the closest lower value.

Self Check

Try changing the Lookup ID to 1008. Which components update and what results do they show?

• Exact Match Lookup shows Not found because 1008 is not in the list.
• Approximate Match Lookup shows Date because 1010 is greater than 1008, so it returns the closest lower ID 1007 (Date).
• Lookup Inputs & Results table updates formulas and results accordingly.

Key Result

Shows how exact and approximate VLOOKUP matches return different results for product lookups.