Pinterest Is The New Search Engine

When you opened your Pinterest app today, things may have looked different. That’s because Pinterest Search and Lens are now front and center.

When you open Pinterest on your phone or mobile device, you will no longer be welcomed by the usual feed. Instead your new homepage now includes a prominent search bar. Pinterest Lens, the platform’s visual search AI, is now also available right there on top.

Both updates come to further facilitate mobile and visual searches from users. In fact, in a blog post, Pinterest explains that “monthly text searches are up 40% over last year and nearly 85% of all Pinterest searches now happen on mobile phones.”

On top of these two search features, your home feed will also start looking different. Using a newly built algorithm, Pinterest will now propose a personalised feed based on what you are saving and searching for on Pinterest. That’s useful but, of course, that is also one more step towards our own little Pinterest style bubble…

With these changes, Pinterest is surfing on the growing trend of social media search. And while one out of five Google searches result in a store visit or sale within the day, Pinterest works differently: on Pinterest, the average user starts searching two to three months before making a purchase. And when it comes to holiday planning, that number goes up to eight months!

So if you want to influence long term sales, it might be time to move your money to Pinterest Search.

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