• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 9, 2024

Pinterest announced a new ad deal with Google, as the social platform reported earnings jumped and global monthly active users (MAUs) rose to 498 million, setting a record for the platform.

MAUs were better than expected as engagement continues, Baird Capital analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in a research note published late Thursday after Pinterest posted year-on-year growth of 12% for the quarter, reaching $981 million.  

“Engagement trends also remain positive, with management highlighting improving content recommendations, shopping functionality, and more relevant ads,” he wrote. “The average revenue per user improved sequentially by 24%, driven by 33% growth in impressions, up from 26% in Q3, offset by natural pricing headwinds.”

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said the company started rolling out the new advertising integration with Google a few weeks ago, and it has already seen positive results.

The integration enables brands to serve ads on Pinterest through Google’s Ad Manager. When Pinterest users see a Google Ad serve on the site, they will be forwarded to the advertiser’s website to complete their purchase.

Pinterest has about 80% of its user base outside the U.S., but only 20% of its revenue comes from these international users.

“We're quite excited about the partnership with Google as particularly for those unmonetized markets,” Ready said during the earnings call. “We think it can help us to accelerate the ARPU journey for those markets and bring more relevant content and actionable content to users in those markets.”

Ready also spoke about using artificial intelligence (AI) and new formats to build its user base and engagement -- for example, with collages. He added that Pinterest has rolled out a feature, mostly for Gen Z, that integrates more video, where users can curate information that they until now done on boards.

During the past quarter, the company made significant investments in AI that drove improvements in the overall platform for users and advertisers.

Ready attributed the growth in users to AI, which drove overall improvements.