A：The key highlights for Duolingo's second quarter include a 23% year-over-year growth in Daily Active Users (DAU), which accelerated from Q1 and slightly exceeded expectations. The quarter saw a significant portion of growth attributed to the 'Green Machine', a process of testing and implementing product changes that leads to user retention reaching an all-time high. Additionally, a one-time campaign called 'Street Revival' brought back 15 million learners to the platform.

A：The 'Green Machine' is a process at Duolingo where the company tests hundreds of product changes, measures their impact, and focuses on those that work. This ongoing effort contributes to user retention reaching an all-time high by compounding the effects of small changes over time.

A：The 'Street Revival' campaign allowed learners who lost their longest streak to earn it back by completing three lessons. It resulted in more than 15 million learner revivals, which helped to bring those users back to the platform and reinforce the idea that the product is continually improving.

A：Duolingo is managing its business by investing deliberately in long-term growth opportunities while maintaining discipline and executing towards full-year bookings and revenue targets of 10% to 12% growth in bookings and 15% to 18% revenue growth. The company has also increased its target Adjusted EBITDA outlook to 26.5% from the previously outlined 25% and expects a year-end Adjusted EBITDA margin closer to 25.5%.

A：For the remainder of 2026, Duolingo's updated financial expectations include a bookings growth rate of approximately 11% and revenue growth of roughly 16% at constant foreign exchange rates. The company expects to end the year with an Adjusted EBITDA margin around 25.5%, and it anticipates generating over $375 million of free cash flow for the year.

A：For Q3, Duolingo expects bookings of approximately $307 million, a growth of 9%, revenue of $302 million, representing growth of 11%, and an Adjusted EBITDA of roughly $76 million with a margin of 25.2%.

A：The extension of free trials from one month to two months is intended to improve engagement and monetization. While the mechanics of this impact are not detailed, the strategy is part of the monetization team's effort to find ways to increase monetization without compromising user growth, as historically some monetization strategies have created friction that opposes user growth.

A：Shifting to a one month free trial has led to an increase in the number of people taking the trial as it is seen as a better deal. This has, in turn, resulted in a larger number of people converting to paying users. Additionally, the experience improves for those on the free trial as certain features like energy and ads are turned off, which has helped increase daily active users.

A：The marketing team is expanding its use of influencers, who have proven effective in countries like China, Indonesia, and India, where two thirds of social media impressions come from these influencers. The team is finding it cost-effective to work with influencers who have different audiences, thereby bringing in a lot of new users. This strategy is yielding positive results, and the team is becoming more sophisticated in performance marketing while still focusing on organic growth.

A：The marketing team has made improvements in the top of the funnel, which has resulted in increased growth rates in most regions, with the US seeing particular growth. DAU growth is broad-based across all regions, and the focus on improving the top of the funnel has been a key area of effort for the team, which has seen positive developments in almost every region.

A：Initially, video calls were costly to use, which led to them being placed behind the paid Max plan. However, through hard work, the cost has been reduced to under a cent per video call, allowing for broader access. Video calls are now available to new super subscribers, and they will also be given to existing users in the coming months. The conversation about the future of the Max plan suggests that it may be scaled back or possibly sunsetted in favor of more inclusive video call features for all subscribers.

A：The retention improvements have led to significant changes in daily active users over time due to the compounding effect. Every version of the app has shown approximately a 3-5% change in retention, resulting in a stickier product and better overall growth.

A：The video call feature has greatly improved engagement, as evidenced by an increase in the number of words spoken by daily active users (DAUs) who have access to this feature. The data shows a consistent improvement each month, indicating better engagement and learning outcomes. This feature also provides more speaking exercises and allows users to answer them via voice instead of tapping on the phone, which is particularly beneficial for advanced and intermediate learners.

A：The company plans to continue a high rate of experimentation, with an increasing number of experiments being conducted per week that grows faster than headcount. Experiments will cover teaching improvements, user growth, and monetization strategies. The goal is to drive daily active user growth, believing that reaching 100 million daily active users will significantly expand the business. While focusing on the core experimentation machine, new features may be developed and potentially implemented for Max, but the priority is to provide speaking features to as many users as possible to foster word of mouth and business growth.

A：The company recognizes that due to general trends of decreasing attention spans, engagement and session times are being actively addressed. Although Duolingo users might engage in shorter bursts, the goal is to ensure that users return multiple times per day to enable compounding benefits. The math and music products are expected to contribute to user growth, despite their smaller user base compared to other features, and the company anticipates growth in these areas.

A：No, the goal is not to sell to schools directly, although they acknowledge that their user base for math is mainly under 18.

A：The plan is to make video call functionality available to all Super subscribers, and it is limited by cost considerations. The feature may become more widely available if costs can be reduced significantly.

A：The company plans to improve its advertising business by becoming more sophisticated and investing in a professional team, which is expected to lead to higher quality ads and increased revenue from ads.

A：The company's stance on performance marketing has changed from being 'massively allergic' to recognizing it as a valuable tool to complement other marketing strategies. The marketing team now incorporates performance marketing and is seeing positive results.

A：The company's strategy for monetization is not to focus on all users but rather on growing the active user base, with the goal of reaching 100 million daily active users (DAUs).