The language learning platform Duolingo joins the trend of proprietary advertising platforms, which Mastercard and American Express have recently joined. The objective of all of them is, in addition to generating new sources of income, to attract advertisers with a proposal for the direct sale of advertising spaces and personalized formats, and to gain greater control over the ads displayed in their ecosystems.

Duolingo aims to achieve this with Duolingo Ads, a mobile advertising platform designed to deliver creative advertising that integrates organically and naturally with users’ in-app experience. The company’s desire is to provide advertisers with a more careful and safe environment for the brand, instead of depending exclusively on third-party services.

However, advertising was already present on Duolingo, mainly in the free version of the platform, an option that they opt for, according to adweek90% of its global audience. Duolingo offers two main formats: “skippable” ads that play after lessons, and rewarded videos that allow users to watch branded content and earn in-app coins.

On the other hand, with Duolingo Ads the platform is committed to its creative and narrative universe, in such a way that the already emblematic characters that accompany users in their lessons are the ones that will form the backbone of the advertising. Advertisers will be able to develop animated, character-based ads, capitalize on Duolingo’s own visual style and humor, and integrate into the learning space.

There will be two types of character ads: the first is a fully animated ad featuring a familiar Duolingo character, and the other is an animated introduction of the character that leads into an advertiser video.
In this sense, Duolingo opts for an entertainment-focused approach, as an alternative to the traditional interruption model. Thus, it puts creativity and design at the center of the new proposal, seeking to entertain and inform in the moments between lessons.

“Ads don’t have to be annoying. In fact, they can be charming”, commented Andrew Guendjoian, director of advertising sales at Duolingo, according to reports Little Black Book. “With Duolingo Ads, we’ve created an offering based on mutual benefit: students get a fun, seamless experience, and brands get meaningful results. Most importantly, Duolingo Ads helps us keep education free for millions of people around the world.”.

However, the introduction of Duolingo Ads does not mean the end of programmatic advertising in the universe of the application, according to campaign. For a decade, the company has maintained a partnership with Google AdMob to monetize its base of free users and has indicated that the collaboration will be maintained and coexist with its internal advertising platform.

The company has already been testing its new platform with selected advertisers since May, including Marriott Bonvoy, Intrepid Travel, Universal Pictures and Adobe. As reported by the aforementioned media, Duolingo points out that two-thirds of its launch partners have obtained positive results, with an increase in click rates of around 3% and completion rates of up to 94% in rewarded videos.