She added that original content has driven strong performance, noting that YouTube’s algorithm probably isn’t as “customized or as strong” yet as TikTok’s famous For You Page (FYP), which offers audiences a highly curated experience as soon as they open the app.

“That sort of works to the benefit of brands, because there’s just more space for people to learn, and they’re willing to learn and escape their own algorithms,” she said.

A long-form leap

Despite its TikTok success, Duolingo doesn’t market through a one-channel lens, Orssaud said.

“We try to create stories and distribute them across channels, and then use that as an experimentation ground to see what sticks across different channels, and then iterate from that,” he added.

Despite the uncertainty, YouTube still has some way to go to dethrone TikTok. The latest forecast from market research firm Emarketer puts the latter’s projected U.S. ad revenue for 2025 at $14.8 billion, well above YouTube’s anticipated $9.9 billion.

In 2024, U.S. TikTok users spent most of their time on the app (55%) watching short-form content, per intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Meanwhile, YouTube Shorts captured 26% of people’s time within the overall YouTube ecosystem.

It’s not all about short-form, anyway. As Duolingo looks to grow its 116 million monthly user base, it wants to diversify into more longer-form content on YouTube.

Orssaud believes longer videos can help “add more depth” to the stories the company tells. It’s already run some experiments, including hosting a eulogy read by CEO Luis von Ahn’s for Duo as part of a stunt that saw the mascot killed off in February.

Parvez added: “The next step with YouTube is figuring out what can make for bigger, longer pieces, versus what stays short-form. Also, how can we push narratives that we might not have been able to push with TikTok, which is so trend-dependent?”