Pinterest rolls out genAI tools for product imagery to advertisers

Image inspiration and shopping site Pinterest is the latest tech company to roll out generative AI products to its advertisers, following similar moves by Google, Amazon, and others. At its Pinterest Presents advertiser event on Tuesday, the company unveiled new features for its Pinterest Performance+ suite, which includes both automation and AI. The latter which will now allow advertisers to turn white, blank, or flat backgrounds into lifestyle imagery.

The new capability, rolling out Tuesday, will help advertisers who want to enhance their Pinterest Product Pins (ads) and attract more clicks, according to Pinterest.

Transforming product imagery using generative AI is not an idea unique to Pinterest, but it's quickly becoming one of the baseline products offered to advertisers given how quickly images can be enhanced with simple prompts. Nearly a year ago, Amazon rolled out the technology advertisers, allowing them to describe image backgrounds for their products. Google followed with tools of its own around the same time, offering ways to easily change the background's colors or scenes.

Now that they're used to having that capability, advertisers will be able to do the same on Pinterest.

One earlier adopter of Pinterest's genAI technology was drug store chain Walgreens, which tested the generative AI experience across 50 products in multiple categories. The retailer was able to showcase its products in more of a Pinterest-native way, the company says, instead of just showing the product on its own. As a result, Walgreens saw a 55% higher clickthrough rate and 13% lower cost-per-click using the AI-generated backgrounds compared with the standard white backgrounds.

In addition, Pinterest says a combination of AI and automation features will help advertisers more quickly create their campaigns, with 50% less input required. Advertisers can opt to mix and match Pinterest Performance+ products based on their needs. In early tests, Pinterest says advertisers saw a 64% decrease in cost per action and a 30% increase in conversion rates, alongside a 1.8x return on ad spend.

Elsewhere on the site, Pinterest is rolling out Promotions: new tools that offer Pinterest users discounts. These tools will be available upon advertiser request in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Personalized Promotions and Deals ads modules will also help to surface sales and discounts to Pinterest users.

In another change, Pinterest Performance+ bidding will also introduce the ability to optimize for the highest value, instead of just for clicks or conversion volume.

Pinterest said that all global advertisers will now have access to Performance+ campaigns for Consideration, Conversions, or Catalog Sales objectives.