Monthly active users (MAU) measure the number of users who satisfy a company's definition of activity during a monthly measurement window.
MAU is widely used to describe audience scale, but it is an issuer-defined operating metric, not a standardized accounting measure.
What counts as an active user?
That depends on the company.
An issuer may require a user to:
- log in;
- open an application;
- visit a website;
- perform a qualifying action;
- interact through an extension or connected service; or
- meet another company-specific activity threshold.
Pinterest, for example, defines MAU using authenticated users who interact with Pinterest through specified surfaces during a 30-day period.
Period-end versus average MAU
A company may report MAU measured at the end of a period, an average over multiple observation dates, or another methodology.
That distinction matters when MAU is used as the denominator for Average Revenue per User. A period-end user count and an average user count can produce different monetization ratios.
MAU is not necessarily unique people
User metrics can be affected by duplicate accounts, shared accounts, bots, policy enforcement, measurement changes, and limitations in identifying the same person across devices or services.
Companies often disclose these limitations in their filings. Investors should preserve them rather than treating MAU as a precise census of human beings.
MAU versus customers or subscribers
An active user is not necessarily a paying customer or subscriber.
A platform can grow MAU while paid users grow more slowly, or vice versa. The relationship depends on the business model, conversion, pricing, retention, geography, and product mix.
Investor interpretation
MAU is most useful as one component of a broader operating model. Pair it with Daily Active Users, ARPU, payer or subscriber metrics, retention, revenue growth, and margins.
When comparing issuers, first compare their exact definitions and measurement windows.
Sources
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