Pinterest has announced a new advertising partnership with Google in an effort to boost its ad revenue. Google is now the social platform’s third-party ad partner, following last year’s multiyear deal with Amazon.
The Google partnership was discussed during the Q4 2023 earnings call, where Pinterest reported results that fell below analyst expectations. Revenue for the period was $981 million, with a 12% year-on-year growth, while monthly active users increased to 498 million, demonstrating an 11% year-on-year growth.
Pinterest’s stock plummeted by nearly 28% due to the below-expectation revenue, but it recovered after CEO Bill Ready announced the Google partnership. He stated that the company had begun implementing the new ad integration a few weeks prior and was already seeing positive results.
Ready emphasized that Pinterest has a significant number of users outside the U.S., yet they only account for 20% of the revenue. The Google partnership is expected to help increase the average revenue per user in international markets.
Growing Audiences
Discussing user engagement and growth strategies, Ready highlighted the company’s use of AI and new formats, such as the global rollout of the collage feature, which enables users to create new images using stickers and objects. Additionally, Pinterest reported that 75% of collages have a shoppable product pin.
Furthermore, last year saw the launch of an auto-organizing feature that recognizes similar pins and encourages users to create boards, resulting in a 30% increase in boards created on the platform.
Ready also mentioned generative AI-based search guides that help users refine their queries and move closer to the point of purchase. In addition, Pinterest has been experimenting with a tool to incorporate body type ranges in search results to promote inclusivity.
