Pinterest’s Promoted Pins Move Into Paid Test Phase

Whether Pinterest could make a go of its Promoted Pins, the platform’s first ad product that debuted last fall, seemed to be a question of when not if. When has arrived. Today, Pinterest announced today that, while still in testing phase, brands are now paying for Promoted Pins. The dozen or so brands included in the paid test include ABC Family, Banana Republic, Expedia.com, Kraft, Old Navy and Target.

“These brands will help us test Promoted Pins to make sure they’re tasteful, transparent, relevant and improved based on Pinner feedback— so that Pinterest continues to be a great experience for everyone,” wrote Joanne Bradford, Head of Partnerships at Pinterest in a blog post.

Promoted Pins appear in category and search results on Pinterest.com and its mobile apps. The sponsored pins are native-style ads that look similar to organic pins, with the exception of a brand name, logo and a “Promoted Pin” label.

While pricing hasn’t been divulged, in March, AdAge reported that Pinterest was pitching commitments of $1 and $2 million, and aiming for CPMs between $30 and $40.

About The Author

Ginny Marvin

Ginny Marvin is Third Door Media's Associate Editor, assisting with the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.