While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates of our user base for the applicable period of measurement, there are mobile phone number list inherent challenges in measuring usage of our products across large online and mobile populations around the world. The largest data management company in the world says it doesn't really know if its numbers are accurate. Estimates? What marketing professional wants estimated results mobile phone number list after the fact? It gets worse.
Emphasis mine: In the fourth quarter of 2017, we estimate that duplicate accounts may have represented approximately 10% of our worldwide MAUs. We believe the percentage of duplicate accounts is meaningfully higher in developing markets mobile phone number list such as India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, as compared to more developed markets. In the fourth quarter of 2017, we estimate that false accounts may have represented approximately 3-4% of our worldwide MAUs. Let that sink in. Facebook is admitting that "approximately" 10% of its monthly active mobile phone number list users are fake. Interestingly, they don't mention what percentage of their daily active users are fake.
And that's the problem with social media. You don't know what's real and what's fake anymore. Social media hasn't been real for a while. As marketers and mobile phone number list advertisers, we pride ourselves on accuracy. In the olden times of marketing and advertising, we obsessed over rating numbers of tv shows, readership for print promotions, and delivery success rates for direct mail. In all cases, the platforms of the day were heavily audited. You knew, with fair certainty, was the audiences were for any particular medium or channel because there was usually mobile phone number list a point of review somewhere for the numbers. Traditional media such as radio, TV, and print had been around long enough that there were thousands of case studies one could study the success or failures of individual campaigns. Because these mediums were part of the public record, it was easy to work backward to see what mix of media and budget worked and what didn't.