How Zoominfo Got Our Business Information Wrong

In today’s digital landscape, businesses often rely on online platforms to gather and disseminate information. One such platform is ZoomInfo, a company that collects and sells business and professional data. However, our experience with ZoomInfo has highlighted significant inaccuracies in its information, raising concerns about its data collection methods and potential implications for businesses.

Our Experience with ZoomInfo

When some brainless trolls went after me on Twitter (now X.com) in 2019, one of the things they were showing to “harass” me was this information they got about my business from Zoominfo:

The problem? Other than the NAICS and SIC codes, the data is all wrong: the address, revenue, and number of employees are wrong. The business location is about 400 miles away from where we are.

Just like this tweet said, your business data on tools such as Zoominfo could be wrong, and people could trust the information they find on the Web to be accurate (yeah, because if it’s on the Web, it must always be correct—NOT!).

#scaseo Looked up “nick skelton bristol” on zoominfo.com – all the data is wrong! Scary that people might trust the info from such tools

— Nick Skelton (@nick_skelton) July 31, 2009

Now it’s 2025, and their information about PowerHomeBiz is still incorrect: the address and phone number are wrong.

What is Zoominfo and How Does It Get Its Information

Zoominfo is in the business of collecting data on businesses and people, and selling the information to customers who use it for sales, marketing and recruitment. It compiles data in two ways:

• Scraping the web for company and contact information through their proprietary web crawler called NextGenSearchBot.
• Through email plugins that collect email signature information such as name, title, company, phone numbers and email addresses.
• Direct contributions from businesses, where you claim the data about your business and enter your business information.
• Third-party data partnerships, aka the data ZoomInfo purchases from other companies

When a user joins in the Zoominfo Community Edition program, Zoominfo scrapes contacts from the user’s Outlook contact list or their Google Apps for Business. As stated on their FAQ:

“When you take part in the ZoomInfo Community Edition program, you agree to share all of the business contacts in your email database, including names and email addresses found in email headers and job titles, company names, phone numbers, and locations found in the email signatures in your mail client. Anyone who uses a supported version of Microsoft Outlook or Google Apps for Business to send and receive business-related emails is eligible to take part in the ZoomInfo Community Edition program.”

Essentially, Zoominfo will scrape the web for “information” about your business – even if incorrect. They don’t cross-check it with business registration or other official documents.

If you sign up for Zoominfo’s program, Zoominfo will send you the data of all your contacts in your email without their permission.  

To Europeans used to strict privacy laws in their countries, let that sink in: Zoominfo is a company that will harvest—without your consent and knowledge—your email and all those who send you emails. If the name is in your contact list, they will scrape it and sell all your contacts’ information.

Hence, there’s a huge number of complaints filed in the Better Business Bureau, the leading consumer advocate watchdog in the United States, against Zoominfo:

Pattern of Complaint:

According to BBB files this business has a pattern of complaint concerning requests for removal of personal information that the consumer considers “unauthorized” or “private.” Consumers state that the process to request removal of information is cumbersome, and requires additional personal information the consumer does not want to share. Consumers state that requests do not receive a reply in a timely manner. Consumers indicate that they want an easier way to opt-out or have information removed, as well as timely responses from the business with regard to requests to remove information. As of 11/9/18 the business did not respond to BBB’s request. Mail sent to the business was not returned.

I have requested that my Name, business e-mail and business information with ex-employer’s LAW OFFICE list be totally removed for this website. I did not sign up or request for my information to be used or posted by Zoominfo. Even sent several request to Remove@Zoominfo.com with link and URL for completely deletion. But get no response or action yet.

A huge amount of various profiles of executives and employees of our client have been uploaded to this website and they are profiteering of it without knowledge or authorization of the companies involved. Our client has asked us to contact this website and request the profiles removed and yet after a few months they did not take action. The various clients we have that are involved in this incident believe it is unacceptable and are considering Legal Action. We want to file this complaint here in hopes to settle this matter before it moves to court.

­­How Did Zoominfo Get Our Business Information Wrong

Five years ago, the trolls who attacked me accused me of lying because I said the information on Zoominfo was wrong. As if I would not know where my business is located!

Remember, Zoominfo gets their information using a web scraper (and not from business registration documents submitted to the government).

Zoominfo says that our business address is in Ruby, South Carolina:

But we are NOT in South Carolina.

Their scraper bot WRONGLY got the information of one of the businesses listed in our Wholesale Directory, Merchandise Suppliers and Dropshippers, which is a directory of businesses that offers products that other businesses can sell.

Specifically, Zoominfo scraped the information of one of the handbag suppliers in our Wholesale Directory:

And no, we do not own North Star Leather! It is just one of the businesses we have listed in our wholesale directory, like hundreds of others.

Who knows where they got the information on revenues and the number of employees? The only thing I am sure of is that it is wrong!

Five years later, ZoomInfo changed its information about our location: from South Carolina, we are now supposed to be based in Texas. Too bad we are not based in Texas. Again, the culprit was harvesting information from a furniture wholesaler company that we listed in our Wholesale Directory.

Are we the only one with a ridiculously inaccurate business listing on Zoominfo? NO!!! In fact, one of the complaints on the BBB website has the exact same experience as we do – totally wrong and fabricated business information:

Hello, I would like to file a complaint on ZoomInfo and to request that my ZoomInfo profile be removed completely from their web site. I have requested that my information be removed several times over and yet they refuse to remove it, because of their so called policy. I didn’t want to have my information listed on this site in the first place, so why should I have to follow their policies! Also, the information they posted on my profile is supposedly gathered from public sources, but everything listed is inaccurate! For instance, I have never made $2.6 million dollars or have a staff of 13. Not even close. I was a one woman show, so how can I have a staff of 13, and if I had made millions, would it be defunct? So, where did they get this information from? It’s inaccurate and full of lies. The posting of my information and inaccurate information on this web site without my permission is putting my safety and privacy at risk. Plus, it makes it look like I’ve made a ton of money when I didn’t. I believe this company is a scam and their customer service is horrible. It took 4 months for me to get a reply and they still refuse to remove my information. Just adding a note to my profile saying DEFUNCT is not what I want and making edits to the information is not what I want. What I want is to have my profile completely removed from their web site. Why should they make it so hard to remove? It’s causing me a great deal of stress and distress and yet they don’t care – they insist on keeping up my profile page. How does it help anyone to keep my profile page up? I really think this company is a SCAM and it shows with the high number of complaints they receive. Please BBB, help me to get my profile page removed from ZoomInfo ASAP. Thank you.

. @ZoomINFO you ought be ashamed of yourselves auto adding biz info without permission AND INCORRECT too! PLUS unsolicited emails

— Kaz Maskall (@kar3n2) October 8, 2011

Is Zoominfo a Reliable Company?

A significant concern with ZoomInfo’s data collection practices is the accuracy and reliability of the information they provide. Since much of their data is gathered through automated web scraping, third-party sources, and email signature mining, inaccuracies are common, leading to outdated or incorrect business profiles. These errors can mislead potential clients, partners, and job seekers who rely on ZoomInfo for accurate information.

Another significant issue is privacy and consent—ZoomInfo collects and sells business and personal data without explicit permission from the individuals or companies listed in their database. Many professionals find their contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses, publicly accessible without their knowledge.

This lack of transparency raises ethical concerns, especially in an era where data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA emphasize user control over personal information. Additionally, opting out of ZoomInfo’s database is not always a straightforward process. Users have reported difficulties in removing their information, often facing cumbersome procedures that require additional personal details. Even after requesting removal, some individuals claim their data reappears later, leading to ongoing frustration and privacy risks.

So is Zoominfo a “reliable” company? As one of the many complainants on the Better Business Bureau said,

If you like being spammed, then zoominfo is your hero. If you don’t like being spammed, then zoominfo is a company you don’t want to share any information with.

I have asked Zoominfo to remove the erroneous information, but like many of the complainants, I was given the runaround and the sorry excuse that they cannot remove my business information on their website. Of course, they won’t remove my business listing because they are selling it and making money from the WRONG information they have about my business. If you are a customer of Zoominfo, know that their data has loads of factual errors, mine included.

This article was originally published on May 29, 2019 and updated on March 1, 2025.