Financial Metrics and Free Cash Flow Analysis
Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data
Facebook Metrics
Meta
We regularly evaluate our Facebook metrics to estimate the number of "duplicate" and "false" accounts among our MAUS. A duplicate account is one that a user maintains in addition to his or her
principal account. We divide "false" accounts into two categories: (1) user-misclassified accounts, where users have created personal profiles for a business, organization, or non-human entity such as a
pet (such entities are permitted on Facebook using a Page rather than a personal profile under our terms of service); and (2) violating accounts, which represent user profiles that we believe are
intended to be used for purposes that violate our terms of service, such as bots and spam. The estimates of duplicate and false accounts are based on an internal review of a limited sample of accounts,
and we apply significant judgment in making this determination. For example, to identify duplicate accounts we use data signals such as identical IP addresses and similar user names, and to identify
false accounts we look for names that appear to be fake or other behavior that appears inauthentic to the reviewers. Any loss of access to data signals we use in this process, whether as a result of our
own product decisions, actions by third-party browser or mobile platforms, regulatory or legislative requirements, or other factors, also may impact the stability or accuracy of our estimates of duplicate
and false accounts. Our estimates also may change as our methodologies evolve, including through the application of new data signals or technologies or product changes that may allow us to identify
previously undetected duplicate or false accounts and may improve our ability to evaluate a broader population of our users. Duplicate and false accounts are very difficult to measure at our scale, and
it is possible that the actual number of duplicate and false accounts may vary significantly from our estimates.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, we estimated that duplicate accounts may have represented approximately 11% of our worldwide MAUS. We believe the percentage of duplicate accounts is meaningfully
higher in developing markets such as the Philippines and Vietnam, as compared to more developed markets. In the fourth quarter of 2021, we estimated that false accounts may have represented
approximately 5% of our worldwide MAUs. Our estimation of false accounts can vary as a result of episodic spikes in the creation of such accounts, which we have seen originate more frequently in
specific countries such as Indonesia, Nigeria, and Vietnam. From time to time, we disable certain user accounts, make product changes, or take other actions to reduce the number of duplicate or false
accounts among our users, which may also reduce our DAU and MAU estimates in a particular period. We intend to disclose our estimates of the number of duplicate and false accounts among our MAUS
on an annual basis.
The numbers of DAUS and MAUS discussed in this presentation, as well as ARPU, do not include users on Instagram, WhatsApp, or our other products, unless they would otherwise qualify as DAUS or
MAUS, respectively, based on their other activities on Facebook.
User Geography
Our data regarding the geographic location of our users is estimated based on a number of factors, such as the user's IP address and self-disclosed location. These factors may not always accurately
reflect the user's actual location. For example, a user may appear to be accessing Facebook from the location of the proxy server that the user connects to rather than from the user's actual location.
The methodologies used to measure our metrics are also susceptible to algorithm or other technical errors, and our estimates for revenue by user location and revenue by user device are also affected
by these factors.
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