REGEXMATCH vs asking a question
REGEXMATCH is fast, free and exact. It also answers a different question than the one you have. Here is the same column judged both ways.
The two formulas
=REGEXMATCH(A2, "(?i)refund")=HUNCH(A2:A500, "Does this message ask for a refund?")In Excel: =HUNCH.ASK(A2:A500, "Does this message ask for a refund?")
Real outputs
| Row | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Message | REGEXMATCH | Asks for a refund? (0–1) |
| 2 | I was charged twice for the March invoice. Can you refund the duplicate? | TRUE | 0.99 |
| 3 | You billed me for a year after I cancelled. Please reverse the charge. | FALSE | 0.97 |
| 4 | No refund needed, I just want to know when the feature ships. | TRUE | 0.03 |
| 5 | The export button does nothing on Safari. Works in Chrome. | FALSE | 0.01 |
| 6 | Cancel my subscription and give me my money back for this month. | FALSE | 0.99 |
The keyword misses "reverse the charge" and "give me my money back", and flags "No refund needed". Three of five rows wrong, on a five-row sample written to be ordinary.
When each one is right
- REGEXMATCH when the thing you want is literally a string: an order number pattern, a domain, a SKU, a word that is never used any other way.
- A question when you want the meaning: asks for a refund, is angry, mentions a competitor, needs a human. The words vary; the meaning does not.
- Both when you want a cheap first pass: REGEXMATCH to pull the obvious matches, the question on the rest. Or the question on everything and REGEXMATCH as a sanity check on the extremes.
A probability is more useful than TRUE/FALSE here: 0.5 means "read this one", which a keyword can never say.
Questions
Is the question formula slower?
About two seconds for 40 rows, run in parallel across the column. REGEXMATCH is instant. For a 500-row export the difference is a few seconds.
Does the question formula cost money?
One credit per row. The five rows above cost five credits, about three cents on the Starter pack. REGEXMATCH is free.
Run it on your own column
Copy the template (or use the Excel add-in), paste your key, point the formula at your data. Every formula here has its Excel spelling underneath. 100 rows free to start, then $29 for 5,000 rows. Credits never expire and there is no subscription.
Reference: HUNCH