Pinterest pitches brands on Visual Search Ads and expanded Performance+ suite
Pinterest unveiled Visual Search Ads and expanded Performance+ features at Pinterest Presents, pitching the platform as a full-funnel, AI-powered performance channel for brands.
Updated
The brief
- Pinterest unveiled Visual Search Ads at its Pinterest Presents event on Tuesday, with features rolling out in the coming weeks.
- Visual Search Ads let brands advertise products prominently in search results and in Pin close-ups.
- Pinterest Performance+, the automated ad suite, now includes manual A/B testing tools, and brands can prioritize specific products during key moments such as seasonal launches.
- CEO Bill Ready said Pinterest is now "a performance platform … and AI is powering all of it."
Pinterest has unveiled a suite of new advertising tools and experiences as it seeks to position itself for the AI era, announcing the features at its "Pinterest Presents" advertiser event on Tuesday.
The new offerings will roll out in the coming weeks.
The headline feature, Visual Search Ads, allows brands to advertise their products prominently in search results and in Pin close-ups — the individual Pins that users click on. The format gives advertisers direct placement at the two moments when Pinterest users are actively engaging with content.
Pinterest is also expanding Pinterest Performance+, its automated advertising suite. The platform is adding manual A/B testing tools, giving advertisers more direct control over creative and campaign experimentation alongside the suite's automated capabilities.
In addition, brands advertising on Pinterest can now choose which products to prioritize during key commercial moments, such as a seasonal launch.
CEO Bill Ready framed the announcements as evidence that Pinterest has evolved into a full-funnel marketing platform. Speaking to advertisers, he argued that Pinterest users arrive with "clear intent" but before they have decided what to buy.
"That is the magic moment for a marketer to meet a potential customer," Ready said. "For much of our history, Pinterest was a great place to build awareness, but not to drive results. I'm proud to say that Pinterest is now a performance platform, … and AI is powering all of it."
The pitch marks a deliberate shift in how Pinterest presents itself to advertisers: from an awareness-driven upper-funnel channel to one competing for performance budgets. The emphasis on AI across the new tools aligns Pinterest with the broader industry race among social platforms to sell advertisers on AI-powered automation and targeting.
For marketers, the additions mean new placement options in visual search contexts and greater flexibility in testing and product prioritization on the platform.
Based on Modern Retail; newsroom.pinterest.com
Filed under pinterest, visual-search-ads, performance, advertising, ai
Amara Osei
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News editor covering industry trends and analytics at Marketing Herald.