Internet, Platforms, Gaming & Media Terms

MAU counts people who used a service at least once in a month; DAU counts those who used it in a day. Ad and payment revenue grow only if users grow, so these are the most basic growth metrics for platform companies.

e.g. Dividing DAU by MAU shows how often users come back.

ARPU is average revenue per user across all users; ARPPU is average revenue per user who actually paid. Even when the user count stalls, revenue can still grow if these rise, so they are watched together.

e.g. If 1 million users generate $5M a month, ARPU is $5.

CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad views, and CPC is what they pay per click. Ad revenue is views or clicks multiplied by price, so user growth and ad price trends need to be read together.

e.g. Showing an ad with a $5 CPM 1 million times earns $5,000 in ad revenue.

Ad budgets are among the first costs companies cut in a downturn. Platform companies that depend heavily on ads can therefore see earnings swing sharply with the economy.

The total value of goods traded on a commerce platform over a period. It is not the company's revenue, but it shows the platform's scale and growth, so it appears often in earnings reports.

The share of GMV that the platform actually keeps as revenue through fees, ads and so on. Even with the same GMV, a higher take rate means more revenue, so it shows the platform's pricing power.

e.g. If GMV is $1B and company revenue is $50M, the take rate is 5%.

The fee a platform charges for connecting sellers and users. It is the main income source, but if too high it can drive sellers away or invite regulatory pushback, so news of a fee increase can be read both ways.

The effect where a service becomes more valuable as more people use it, which in turn attracts more users. It creates a barrier that rivals struggle to overcome and is often cited to explain platform companies' high valuations.

e.g. A messenger all your friends use is hard to leave for another one.

The cut that app store operators take when apps or items are sold through their store. It is a big cost for game and content companies, so changes in the fee rate or rules allowing outside payments affect profit margins.

The number of people paying for video or music streaming services. Subscriber growth, price increases and cancellation rates together decide revenue, and how much is spent on content determines profit.

Short vertical video content of around a minute. It quickly boosts time spent, but is harder to monetize with ads than long videos, so how well platforms turn short-form into ad revenue is the thing to watch.

The economic system in which individual creators earn ad, donation and subscription income from videos, writing and streams. Platforms that attract many creators gain more content and users, which grows ad and fee revenue together.

Creative works the company owns the rights to, such as characters, stories and fictional worlds. One IP can be extended into games, dramas, merchandise and more to earn repeatedly, so companies with strong IP tend to have longer-lasting earnings.

e.g. A popular webcomic turned into a drama and a game is IP expansion.

Comics and novels serialized online and on mobile. They earn through per-episode payments and ads, and hit titles extend into video and game IP for extra revenue. Growing overseas users is the key growth variable.

A game company's earnings swing heavily on whether a new title becomes a hit. Live service means continuing updates and events after launch to keep earning for a long time, so both the launch schedule and how well existing games hold revenue matter.

A game product that gives a random item at set odds in exchange for money. It is a major revenue source for many game companies, but stricter regulation, such as mandatory disclosure of odds, can hit revenue.

e.g. A product where one draw has a low chance of yielding a rare character is an example.

Entertainment agencies earn from their artists' IP through album sales, concerts, merchandise, ads and music streaming. Earnings swing with a popular group's activity schedule, military enlistment and contract renewals, so artist schedules are a key variable.

e.g. In a year when a top group goes on a world tour, concert and merchandise revenue rises sharply.

Album sales cluster around comebacks, and concert revenue jumps when there is a major tour. Concerts also lift merchandise sales on top of tickets, contributing heavily to profit, so tour size and schedule announcements can move stock prices.

Rules and policies that limit the use of cookies and advertising identifiers that track user behavior. If targeted ads become less accurate, ad prices can fall, which can burden companies that depend heavily on advertising.