Pinterest Plans to Extend Reach to Connected TV with tvScientific Acquisition

Pinterest plans to extend its performance advertising capabilities to connected TV (CTV) by acquiring CTV performance advertising platform tvScientific.

The company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire tvScientific and, subject to regulatory review and other customary conditions, it expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2026, Pinterest said in a Thursday (Dec. 11) press release.

The acquisition will enable Pinterest to bring to CTV the high-intent audiences it identifies on its platform, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) systems to deliver personalized recommendations and shopping experiences based on users’ activity, according to the release.

The tvScientific platform will be integrated into Pinterest’s automation and AI-powered advertising suite, Pinterest Performance+, and other performance products, per the release.

“Looking ahead, advertisers will be able to buy TV with the performance metrics they are already using, turning Pinterest into a true search, social and CTV performance solution,” Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said in the release. “This is an exciting progression in our multi-year strategy to drive new sources of demand to Pinterest and begin to allow advertisers to reach our valuable audience beyond our platform.”

The tvScientific platform enables advertisers to run their own CTV campaigns, pay by outcome and determine the impact of TV, according to the release.

“This is the first time a performance CTV engine will come together at scale with an intent-rich visual search platform and it fundamentally changes what marketers can expect from TV,” tvScientific CEO Jason Fairchild said in the release.

Ready said in November that Pinterest has transformed from a digital mood board into an “AI-powered visual-first shopping assistant.”

AI now underpins nearly every part of the platform, from search and discovery to shopping recommendations and the new conversational Pinterest Assistant.

Ready said during the company’s Nov. 4 earnings call that Pinterest’s mission is to “anticipate what users will love next,” describing how the company’s AI systems are designed to predict inspiration before users even search.

In recent months, Pinterest has partnered with Walmart to make recipes shoppable, with Wix to enable that company’s merchants to promote and sell products directly on Pinterest, and with Instacart to make Pinterest ads directly shoppable via Instacart.

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