Perplexity
In India, the free-offer gamble sent Perplexity soaring
🧒 Discovery
In India, a giant gift brought millions of curious people to try the Perplexity robot, like free samples at a store entrance.
📰 Essential
The free year of Perplexity Pro offered to telecom operator Airtel's 360 million customers sent the app's downloads in India soaring. Since the offer closed in January they have fallen back, but revenue keeps growing.
🔬 Expert
The offer, a year of the $200 Pro plan through Airtel, lifted downloads from about 11,200 to over 300,000 a day at the peak. After it closed in January the drop was sharp, yet monthly mobile revenue in India grew from roughly $34,000 to $156,000 by July 2026: real conversion, though modest against the cost.