Pinterest is a search engine as much as a social network. It says people search it 80 billion times a month, more than half of those searches are commercial, and 96 percent of text searches name no brand. That makes it one of the few places where a brand can reach people who are still deciding. In 2025 and 2026 Pinterest built its ad products around search.
Visual Search Ads
Announced on 17 September 2026, Visual Search Ads appear in search results and in Pin close-ups, the view a person sees when they tap a Pin. They serve lower-funnel objectives and work with Performance+. Pinterest said they would reach eligible advertisers in all its ad markets in the following weeks, in beta.
Top of Search ads
Launched in beta in September 2025 in all Pinterest's ad markets, Top of Search ads appear in the first ten search results and in related Pins. Pinterest says 45 percent of clicks happen in the top ten results, that the ads had 29 percent higher click-through than standard campaigns, and that Wayfair's click-through rose 237 percent over two weeks.
Shopping ads and catalogues
- A retail catalogue holds up to 20 million products, uploaded as TSV, CSV, XML or Google Sheets, and needs a business account, a claimed website and the Pinterest tag.
- International shopping, from June 2026, allows campaigns and ad groups across several countries, with automatic translation and currency conversion.
- Local inventory ads show products in stock nearby. Pinterest says they bring 1.7 times higher online conversion rates, and that adding a promotion lifts conversions by 18 percent.
- Direct Links send clicks straight to the advertiser's site, with a button, and are the default for eligible ads.
Pinterest does not clearly list the countries where shopping ads run. In the Gulf, confirm with DMS, Pinterest's regional partner, before building a plan on them.
AI search for users
- Pinterest Assistant, which combines Pins with spoken or typed questions, reached most US users by mid 2026. Pinterest says about 80 percent of its queries show commercial intent.
- Ask Pinterest, an experimental shopping app, launched with limited access in the US in June 2026.
- Restyle, which redesigns a room from a person's own photo, is in beta in the US and Canada.
None of these has been announced for the Gulf. They are worth watching because they show where Pinterest is taking search: towards conversations that end in a product.
The specs
- Standard image: PNG or JPEG, 2:3 recommended, 1000 by 1500 pixels.
- Text: a title of up to 100 characters, of which the first 40 show in the feed, and a description of up to 800.
- Standard video: 4 seconds to 15 minutes, 6 to 15 seconds recommended, up to 2 GB.
- Carousel: two to five images at 1:1 or 2:3.
- Collections: one main image plus up to 24 smaller ones.
- Idea ads: 9:16 recommended.
How to use them
- Put the words people search for in the first 40 characters of the title, since that is what shows in the feed.
- Use 2:3 images that show the product in use, not only on white.
- Keep the catalogue complete and current, with prices, availability and promotions.
- For Arabic audiences, write titles and descriptions in Arabic as well as English. Pinterest has worked in Arabic since 2021.
The ad mockup generator on this site shows an ad in Pinterest's feed and close-up, with the title cut where Pinterest cuts it, and the social media image resizer crops to 2:3.
