By: Brooke Gruenbaum
When Pinterest first became a staple of the internet, it wasn’t about performance marketing, it was about inspiration. Recipes, home decor, wedding planning: A digital vision board. But with its latest move into connected TV (CTV), that identity is evolving fast. Pinterest isn’t just experimenting with a new ad channel; it’s redefining what kind of media company it wants to be.
From Pins to Prime Time
Pinterest’s entry into CTV is largely powered by its acquisition of tvScientific, a platform built for outcome-based television advertising. That deal laid the groundwork for Pinterest to extend its audience beyond its own app and into streaming environments. Now, advertisers can reach Pinterest users not just while they browse, but while they watch. This is a major shift. For the first time, Pinterest is making its audience data available on third-party CTV inventory, effectively turning its user base into a portable targeting layer across screens.
Why This Matters: Intent Meets the Living Room
What makes Pinterest different from other platforms is intent. Unlike passive scrolling on social feeds, Pinterest users are actively planning things such as what to buy, cook, wear, or build. The platform has over 600 million users generating signals about what they want to do next, not just what they like. Traditionally, TV advertising has struggled with precision and measurement. But by combining Pinterest’s first-party data with tvScientific’s performance engine, advertisers can now:
• Target high-intent audiences on TV
• Measure outcomes, not just impressions
• Connect exposure across mobile, desktop, and TV
Early tests even suggest meaningful performance gains when these data sets are combined. In other words, Pinterest is trying to turn TV into a performance channel.
The Bigger Strategy: Becoming a Full-Funnel Platform
Pinterest has been steadily positioning itself as a full-funnel advertising platform, bridging discovery and purchase. Its AI-driven ad suite and “Performance+” tools are designed to automate and optimize campaigns across formats. By expanding beyond mobile and desktop into the living room, Pinterest can now follow users across the entire journey on every screen. That is a compelling pitch to marketers who are tired of fragmented measurements and siloed campaigns.
The Competitive Angle: Taking on Walled Gardens
Pinterest’s move also puts it in more direct competition with major players in the CTV space such as retail media networks, streaming platforms, and big tech companies all vying for ad dollars. But Pinterest has a unique advantage: it doesn’t rely on content ownership. It’s a lighter, more flexible model. And if it works, it could challenge the dominance of traditional walled gardens.
The Challenges Ahead
Of course, this strategy isn’t without risks.
• Execution complexity: Extending identity and measurement across devices is notoriously difficult
• Dependence on partners: Pinterest doesn’t own the CTV inventory it’s tapping into
• Market education: Advertisers still need convincing that CTV can deliver true performance outcomes
There’s also a broader industry question: will marketers trust yet another cross-channel measurement solution? Pinterest’s CTV debut marks a turning point not just for the company, but for the evolution of digital advertising. It reflects a bigger trend: the convergence of performance marketing and traditionally “upper-funnel” channels like TV. If Pinterest succeeds, it won’t just be a place where people plan their future, it’ll be a platform that helps brands drive measurable action at every step of that journey. And that’s a much more powerful position to be in.
