Pinterest launches Visual Search Ads as 80 billion monthly searches drive new performance ad push

Pinterest is introducing Visual Search Ads, a new performance advertising format that places sponsored results directly within visual discovery experiences as the platform expands the role of AI across advertising, shopping and product discovery.

Announced at Pinterest Presents, Visual Search Ads will appear prominently in Pinterest Search Results and Pin closeups. Advertisers will be able to bid for a top response and send users directly to their websites as they search for, compare and evaluate products.

The format combines keyword relevance with Pinterest’s visual understanding technology, allowing ads to appear in response to the images and products users are exploring rather than relying exclusively on traditional text-based search queries.

Pinterest says its users now conduct more than 80 billion searches per month, with the vast majority being visual and more than half carrying commercial intent. That search activity is becoming a larger source of advertising signals as Pinterest looks to connect discovery behavior more directly with performance campaigns.

The new ad format is powered by Pinterest Intelligence, the company’s AI system that combines first-party signals with its understanding of images, products, user tastes and intent.

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready positioned the format as an extension of search advertising beyond keywords, with visual interactions providing additional signals about what users may be considering.

For advertisers, the objective is to reach users while they are still deciding what they want rather than waiting until they enter a specific product query or reach the final stages of a purchase journey.

Visual Search Ads are designed for lower-funnel objectives and will work with Pinterest Performance+, the company’s AI-powered performance advertising suite. The format will enter beta for eligible advertisers across all Pinterest advertising markets in the coming weeks.

Pinterest is also expanding Performance+ with a feature called Priority Products.

The new control allows advertisers to specify products they want the automated system to prioritize during periods such as seasonal launches, promotions or category campaigns. The feature is intended to give marketers more direct influence over product selection while retaining automated campaign optimization.

Self-serve A/B testing is also being added to Pinterest’s advertising tools. Advertisers will be able to run experiments across creative, targeting and Performance+ campaigns to compare strategies and measure their impact.

For mobile marketers, Pinterest is separately expanding its performance advertising tools with App Promotion, a campaign objective specifically designed to generate app installs.

App Promotion is currently in global beta for qualified advertisers. Pinterest says one advertiser recorded an improvement of up to 85% in cost per install compared with previous workarounds, although results from an individual advertiser should not be treated as representative of broader campaign performance.

The addition gives app marketers a more direct campaign objective for user acquisition instead of adapting other Pinterest advertising formats around install goals.

Pinterest is simultaneously bringing more of its AI technology into the consumer side of the platform.

A new feature called Restyle allows users to upload or use a photo of a room and apply AI to reimagine the space, experiment with different ideas and compare potential home décor options.

Rather than simply generating an isolated image, the feature is designed around Pinterest’s existing discovery process, where users frequently move between inspiration, product research and purchase consideration.

Restyle will initially launch in beta in the United States and Canada.

The feature also illustrates how Pinterest is attempting to connect generative AI with its commercial discovery model. A user considering a room redesign could use AI to visualize different approaches before moving into searches for relevant furniture, décor or other products.

Pinterest’s advertising announcements arrive alongside a broader investment in multimodal AI infrastructure.

Earlier this week, the company announced an expanded relationship with Nvidia to support visual search, content understanding and other AI-powered products. Pinterest said its infrastructure can give Pinterest Assistant access to 25 times more visual context per request, while internal benchmark testing showed faster response startup and lower overall latency when using precomputed visual representations.

Together, those developments point to visual activity becoming a more important advertising signal on Pinterest.

Traditional search advertising has generally depended on explicit text queries that reveal what a consumer is looking for. Visual discovery can capture intent differently: users may select an image, examine a particular product or explore similar styles without entering a detailed keyword query.

Visual Search Ads are designed to turn those interactions into addressable advertising opportunities.

For performance marketers, the addition creates another point in the Pinterest funnel where paid placements can appear between initial inspiration and a potential purchase. The combination of visual search advertising, Performance+ automation and app-install campaigns also broadens the platform’s performance offering beyond its historical role as an inspiration and discovery channel.

Pinterest is also returning with a second season of Bring My Pinterest to Life, its CTV series that pairs Pinterest users with creators and brands to turn ideas saved on the platform into physical spaces, experiences and looks. Creators Tay BeepBoop Nakamoto and Caroline Vazzana are among those returning for the new season.

The larger advertising shift, however, centers on converting Pinterest’s visual discovery activity into measurable performance inventory.

With more than 80 billion monthly searches providing signals around products, styles and intent, Pinterest is increasingly applying AI not only to determine what content users see, but also to decide where advertisers can enter that discovery process.