Pinterest Announces Ad Partnership With Amazon

Pinterest announced that it aims to make “every Pin shoppable” by partnering with Amazon to deliver third-party ads. The partnership will give Amazon advertisers access to Pinterest’s 463 million monthly active users.

“This milestone partnership will add to the great brands already on the platform and provide more comprehensiveness, shoppability, and a best-in-class buying experience for users, along with greater performance for brands and advertisers,” Pinterest’s CEO Bill Ready said.

The multi-year partnership will give Pinterest users direct access to more targeted brands and products. When users click on Amazon ads, they will be redirected to the e-commerce platform to complete the purchase. Pinterest expects it will take several quarters until it fully implements the new buying experience for users.

Although Pinterest is no stranger to connecting product inspiration to actual purchases, the partnership is expected to give Pinterest users with Amazon accounts a more seamless shopping experience. With all their information stored on the Amazon platform, they can go from browsing on Pinterest to completing Amazon purchases in seconds.

The partnership is part of Pinterest’s efforts to adjust to consumers’ changing behaviors around product discovery. With the rise of bite-sized video content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, Pinterest abandoned its image-exclusive approach in 2021. The platform introduced Idea Pins, which are similar to Instagram stories and can contain up to 20-page video, music, and text content.

Since the appointment of new CEO Bill Ready, who has previously worked at Venmo and Google, the company has been committed to revamping its advertising model. Ready has already increased the number of ads users see while browsing on the platform.

Despite the efforts, Pinterest has been on a rocky road since reporting its first-quarter results. The company reported a loss in operating income of $244,000 due to hefty restructuring costs.

Just recently, Pinterest cut 4% of its workforce and ended a string of office leases, actions that are expected to result in lower overhead costs over time. Although the number of active users is up from last year, Pinterest’s shares fell a dramatic 15% since earnings were released.

Amazon’s ad business, on the other hand, is going strong despite the slowing advertising economy. In the year’s first quarter, Amazon earned $9.51 billion from advertising, a healthy 21% boost compared to the same period last year. A recent study showed that the e-commerce giant takes a 50% cut from sellers, on average.