Report: Google and Pinterest Testing Ad Partnership in US

Google and Pinterest reportedly may be testing Google ad units on the Pinterest app.

Piper Sandler analysts said in a Tuesday (March 26) note that they have spotted such ad units on the app, along with other evidence that a partnership is being tested in the United States, Investing.com reported Tuesday.

Google and Pinterest did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The analysts also said that code suggested that the ad units could be related to Search or could use audience data to retarget Pinterest users, according to the report. They also said that the last time they saw Google ad units on Pinterest was a year ago, in February 2023.

The Piper Sandler note also said that Google ad units had previously been framed as supplementing Pinterest’s international business, rather than its U.S. business, and that the testing suggests a more rapid rollout of a partnership than Pinterest’s collaboration with Amazon, which took between six and nine months, per the report.

Pinterest inked a deal with Amazon Ads in April 2023, with the multiyear deal marking the first time Pinterest had a third-party advertising partner, PYMNTS reported at the time.

“Over 463 million people come to Pinterest each month to create a life they love,” Pinterest said at the time. “Brands and partners are a critical piece of this journey, enabling Pinners to move easily from inspiration to action and advertisers to realize value in connecting with users with high commercial intent. Our partnership with Amazon will allow us to scale these efforts in meaningful ways.”

Also in April 2023, it was reported that Pinterest Chief Revenue Officer Bill Watkins said that shopping ad catalogs accounted for the company’s fastest-growing revenue stream.

Watkins said at the time that Pinterest was adjusting its retail strategy as ads became a key revenue source, investing in technology that would “drive the best shopping experience fulfilled by merchants that are already on our platform.”

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that 43% of consumers browse social media to find goods and services. Fourteen percent of consumers ultimately purchase those goods and services, according to “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and AWS collaboration.