Pinterest Opens More Ad Inventory to Programmatic Buyers

Pinterest is opening selected display and video inventory to programmatic buyers in North America, South America and Asia Pacific. The October 26 launch makes Programmatic Deals generally available in those markets and gives enterprise advertisers a way to buy Pinterest placements through systems they already use for broader campaigns.

Programmatic advertising uses software to plan, buy and measure ad placements across multiple publishers. For Pinterest, the attraction is access to demand that might not flow through its own advertising interface. The company says the new channel complements rather than replaces its first-party ads business.

Pinterest is connecting inventory to supply-side and demand-side partners. Google Ad Manager supports supply in Latin America and Asia Pacific. Buyers can access inventory through Amazon DSP, Google's Display & Video 360 and Yahoo DSP. Pinterest also describes itself as the primary supply-side platform for the program, which should help it retain control over inventory and audience signals while broadening distribution.

The commercial argument rests on user intent. Pinterest says it reaches 640 million monthly active users and handles more than 80 billion searches each month. More than half of those searches are commercial, and 96% of text searches are unbranded. In practical terms, many users are deciding what to buy before choosing a brand, which can make the platform valuable for both awareness and performance campaigns.

Pinterest cited a Moroccanoil campaign run through Magnite and Amazon Ads as an early example. The company said the campaign produced 15% incremental reach with 1% audience overlap, 63% more new-to-brand buyers among users whose purchase paths included Pinterest, and a click-through rate 20% above the brand's average video and display campaigns.

Those figures are encouraging, but they are company-reported results from one campaign. They do not establish the average performance of Programmatic Deals, the fees Pinterest will retain or whether programmatic demand will be incremental rather than shifting spending from direct purchases.

The investment case therefore depends on two separate outcomes. Pinterest must make its inventory easier to buy without weakening pricing, measurement or advertiser relationships. It must also convert the platform's commercial search activity into higher revenue per user, especially outside the United States and Canada where monetization has historically been lower.

General availability removes friction for large advertisers, which is a credible positive step. The next evidence should come from management's disclosure of programmatic demand, advertiser growth and any effect on average revenue per user. Until then, Programmatic Deals expands Pinterest's sales channel, but does not by itself prove a material earnings contribution.