Duolingo on Launching Ad Platform Led by Cast of Familiar Faces

Duolingo has doubled down on its commitment to character-led creative with the launch of ‘Duolingo Ads’, a new mobile-first advertising platform designed to entertain and drive tangible business results for its partners in cohesion. The platform has launched in an effort to keep education free for millions around the world – but not in the way you might expect.

With more than 128 million active daily users worldwide, Duolingo has become an integral part of many people’s day-to-day routines, and has notably found popularity amongst a notoriously hard-to-reach gen z audience.

Building on the success of its character-led format, Duolingo Ads offers brands the opportunity to connect with its hyper-engaged audience base through ad formats that look and feel distinctly Duolingo. Opting for an entertainment-first approach, Duolingo Ads rejects a traditional interruption model for partner advertisement, instead opting for a creative-first approach designed to entertain and inform in bite-sized moments without disrupting the flow of lessons.

“Ads don’t have to be annoying. They can actually be delightful,” says Andrew Guendjoian, head of ad sales at Duolingo. “With Duolingo Ads, we’ve crafted an offering built on mutual benefit: learners get a fun, seamless experience, and brands see meaningful results. Most importantly, Duolingo Ads helps us keep education free for millions of people around the world.”

It’s a format that’s tried and tested, with Duolingo already having used character-led advertising to promote its Super and Max subscription tiers. “These ads performed much better than the open auction and received positive feedback in surveys and focus groups with users,” adds Andrew, speaking with LBB. “That success made it clear we could adapt these formats to support brand partnerships as well.”

Duolingo Ads embeds brands into experiences that users already know and love, blurring the line between advertising and entertainment. The platform launched in partnership with a select group of brands, including Adobe, Intrepid Travel and Universal Pictures, who provide the voice and goals they want to achieve through advertising on Duolingo. Andrew notes that these partners operate, “within verticals that naturally align with why people use Duolingo: creativity, exploration, and storytelling,” making them the right cultural fit for in-app advertisement.

There are two types of character ads, the first being a fully animated spot featuring a familiar Duolingo character, and the other taking the form of an animated character introduction that tees up a partner video.

There are also two full-screen mobile ad formats: Interstitial, shown after a lesson is complete and skippable after five seconds, and Rewarded Video, which are opt-in and provide a reward linked to in-app currency.

“Our internal writers and designers collaborate with partners to ensure each execution feels authentic, playful, and true to the Duolingo brand,” says Andrew. “Our early testing revealed 96% video completion rates and click-through rates of up to 30%, significantly exceeding industry benchmarks.”

The production process with brands and agencies is intentionally collaborative, adds Andrew, “to ensure ads feel authentic to both their story and the Duolingo experience”.

“Each project includes a writer and a designer who are character and brand stewards, ensuring the creative feels true to both,” he adds. “We recommend which characters to feature based on their personality fit and how they naturally appear in the app, ensuring it always feels authentic and aligned.”

Following its launch, the platform will continue to expand with new native formats that Andrew says will “surprise and delight learners while helping brands earn authentic attention.”