WhoBilled.me is a reference database, not a blog. This page explains exactly how a billing descriptor gets matched to a merchant, how confident each kind of record is, and how corrections work.
When you search a charge, we match your text against the database two ways: exact descriptor matching (the precise string as it appears on statements, like BKG*HOTEL AT BOOKING.C) and normalized matching (punctuation, spacing, case, and store-number suffixes stripped, so COSTCO WHSE #0119 and COSTCO-WHSE 0119 resolve to the same record). Descriptors from payment facilitators (like MB*MINECRAFT) are additionally decomposed into the processor and the sub-merchant you actually bought from.
Every record shows which of these tiers it belongs to. Higher tiers override lower ones, and a correction marked verified can never be overwritten by an automated process.
Identifying a descriptor tells you who a charge is from. It cannot tell you whether your specific transaction was authorized — someone who shares your card may have made the purchase, or in rare cases a fraudster may have used a legitimate merchant. That's why every page separates merchant identification from transaction legitimacy, and recommends contacting the merchant before disputing with your bank.
Each record displays its "last updated" date. Content changes — new identifications, corrections, merchant claims — are pushed to search engines the same day they happen.
If a record is wrong, we want to know. Use the "Was this helpful?" and feedback controls on any charge page, and a human reviews the report. Confirmed mis-attributions are corrected at the data layer: the descriptor is repointed to the right merchant, the fix is marked verified, and the corrected page replaces the old answer everywhere the same day. Merchants who find their descriptors misrepresented can claim the record and take direct control of it.
Scale, sources, and update practices are documented at About the WhoBilled.me Billing Descriptor Database.