Consider that third-party tracking still places Yahoo as one of the top trafficked websites in the world, with only Google, Baidu, and Facebook higher.
Full disclosure: I work for Yahoo.
Naturally, there are areas where we know the algorithms are not translating the inputs to real users with 100% fidelity, but we know that the discount is relatively minor, not nearly as substantial as youre suggesting.
Multiple counter-parties had their teams diligence our user figures and associated algorithms and found them to be generally accurate representations.
Unless you're using a different definition of "active, monthly user" that deviates from the industry norms?
Okay that's the disconnect. Monthly uniques typically count is unique accesses of a web page by non-bots / spam. This is how I've seen it defined in every analytics software package I've ever used. Monthly active users is a vastly different concept as it implies repeat access within the month.
Though judging by the downvotes on my parent comment I'm guessing my thinking of the terms is NOT standard? Not going to lie I'm a bit confused around this. I'm going to have to look into it more.
Unique visitors versus active accounts.