Pinterest turns visual search into a new ad opportunity

Pinterest is launching a new advertising format called Visual Search Ads, allowing brands to bid for prominent placements in visual search results and Pin closeups.

Search advertising has traditionally relied heavily on keywords. Pinterest is taking a different approach by focusing on AI-powered visual search, allowing advertisers to reach users based not only on what they type into the search bar, but also on what they are looking at.

What’s new

Visual Search Ads can appear prominently in Pinterest Search Results and Pin closeups.

The format combines keyword relevance with Pinterest’s ability to understand images, products and user intent.

This gives advertisers an opportunity to reach users at a point when they are already visually exploring a product, comparing different options and moving closer to a purchase decision.

How it works

Advertisers can bid for top placements in visual search results.

Users can then be directed directly to the advertiser’s website. This creates a performance advertising opportunity for brands to engage with potential customers while they are still researching and deciding what to buy.

Unlike traditional search, where the main signal is the user’s text query, Pinterest can take visual context into account — including what a person is viewing and which products they are interacting with.

By the numbers

According to Pinterest, users conduct more than 80 billion searches on the platform every month.

The company says the vast majority of these searches are visual, while more than half have commercial intent.

This creates a new touchpoint for advertisers: a user may not yet know the exact name of a product or brand but may already be actively looking for inspiration, comparing options and developing an idea of what they want to purchase.

The role of AI

Visual Search Ads are powered by Pinterest Intelligence, the company’s AI technology for understanding images, products, user preferences and intent.

Pinterest uses these signals to create targeting opportunities for advertisers.

This means the platform is moving beyond a traditional model in which advertising is primarily connected to a text-based search query. Instead, it can take into account a broader context based on user behavior and visual interactions with content.

What Pinterest says

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready says users are increasingly expressing what they want through signals that go beyond keywords.

For marketers, this creates an opportunity to engage with audiences during AI-powered visual discovery — at moments when people find an idea, save it and move closer to a decision.

Pinterest wants advertisers to consider not only what users search for, but also what they see, save and compare.

What this means for performance marketers

Visual Search Ads are designed for lower-funnel objectives and will work with Pinterest Performance+, the platform’s AI-powered performance advertising solution.

For advertisers, this creates an opportunity to reach users not only when they enter a specific commercial query, but also while they are visually exploring a product or category.

For example, someone may be browsing images of interior design, fashion or beauty products without having a specific brand in mind. Visual search can help Pinterest understand the context of that interest and present relevant advertising offers.

Priority Products

At the same time, Pinterest is expanding advertisers’ control over Performance+ with a new feature called Priority Products.

It allows brands to specify products that the system should prioritize in certain situations.

For example, advertisers can highlight specific products during:

• seasonal launches;
• promotional campaigns;
• category pushes;
• other important commercial moments.

At the same time, Performance+ continues to use automated campaign optimization.

Pinterest is therefore combining AI-powered automation with greater advertiser control over which products should receive priority.

A/B testing for advertisers

Pinterest is also introducing self-serve A/B testing for creative and targeting, including within Performance+.

The new feature will allow advertisers to compare different advertising strategies and measure whether changes actually improve campaign performance.

This makes it possible to test not only individual creatives, but also different approaches to targeting and campaign strategy.

A new objective for app promotion

For app marketers, Pinterest is also introducing a new App Promotion objective.

It is entering global beta for qualified advertisers and allows brands to create campaigns specifically designed to drive app installs.

Pinterest says one advertiser saw an improvement of up to 85% in cost per install compared with previous approaches.

However, this is a company-provided result, so individual advertiser performance may vary.

AI for Pinterest users

Pinterest is developing AI not only for its advertising products but also for the user experience.

The platform is introducing a new feature called Restyle, which allows users to upload a photo of a space, use AI to reimagine it and compare different design ideas.

For example, users can upload a photo of their room and receive AI-generated ideas for how it could look in a different style.

Restyle is launching in beta for users in the U.S. and Canada.

When will the features become available?

Visual Search Ads will enter beta for eligible advertisers across all Pinterest advertising markets in the coming weeks.

Priority Products and self-serve A/B testing are also expanding the capabilities available through Performance+.

App Promotion is entering global beta for qualified advertisers.

What this means for Pinterest advertising

Search is becoming increasingly visual and AI-driven as platforms use AI to better understand user intent.

Pinterest is betting heavily on this direction by giving brands an opportunity to engage with potential customers not only when they search for a specific product or category.

A user may first see a product or idea, save an image, compare several options and only then move toward a purchase.

Visual Search Ads are designed to allow brands to participate in this process — while users are still visually exploring their options but are already moving closer to a purchase decision.

For marketers, this represents another direction in the evolution of search advertising: moving beyond keywords toward visual signals, AI and a broader understanding of user behavior.

Read this article in Ukrainian.