TLDR
Pinterest has opened selected display and video inventory to programmatic buyers in North America, South America and Asia Pacific, through Amazon, Google, Yahoo and DeepIntent, with Magnite on the supply side. It has not said whether Australia is included, and Europe is left out with no date.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What changed
Pinterest has made selected display and video inventory available to programmatic buyers, through a product it calls Programmatic Deals. It is live in North America, South America and Asia Pacific.[1] Until now, most advertisers bought Pinterest through its own ads manager or sales team; now they can buy it inside the platforms their agencies already use for everything else.
Magnite is the main supply-side partner, with Google Ad Manager handling supply in Latin America and Asia Pacific. On the buying side, Pinterest names Amazon Ads DVA+, Google Display & Video 360, Yahoo DSP and DeepIntent.[1]
"Programmatic Deals put that intent to work for enterprise advertisers across the media systems they already use," said Jason Fairchild, Pinterest's general manager of programmatic and affiliate and chief executive of tvScientific by Pinterest.[1] Magnite's president of revenue and market strategy, Sean Buckley, said: "Pinterest offers a unique understanding of what people are interested in and what they may buy next."[1]
Is Australia in?
Pinterest has not said. Its announcement names Asia Pacific but no countries.[1] PPC Land noted that Pinterest has published no country list and that Europe is excluded, with no date for when it might be added.[2] B&T has asked Pinterest's Australian team to clarify.[3]
For Australian agencies that already run most of their display and video through DV360 or Amazon, the answer decides whether Pinterest becomes another line in the same buy, or stays a separate booking.
The test results Pinterest is selling
Pinterest pointed to a June campaign for haircare brand Moroccanoil, bought through Magnite and Amazon Ads. It reported 15% incremental reach, 1% audience overlap, 63% more new-to-brand buyers among people whose path to purchase included Pinterest, and a click-through rate 20% higher than the brand's average for video and display.[1] These are Pinterest's own figures from a single advertiser.
The company says it has a record 640 million monthly active users and more than 80 billion searches a month, more than half of them commercial.[1]
Why now
Growth is slowing. Pinterest guided to third-quarter revenue growth of 13% to 15%, down from 18% in the second quarter, when revenue was US$1.18 billion.[3] It closed its acquisition of connected-TV ad platform tvScientific on 17 February, and Fairchild now runs both programmatic and tvScientific.[2]
Opening the inventory to outside buying platforms lets Pinterest reach budgets that are planned and traded programmatically, without each buyer having to set up a separate Pinterest account.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which platforms can buy Pinterest ads programmatically?
Is Australia included in Pinterest Programmatic Deals?
What did the Moroccanoil test show?
James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.
