Today, Pinterest announced the launch of Pinterest Performance+, a suite of AI and automation tools designed to enhance lower-funnel performance for advertisers. According to the company’s press release, Performance+ “can help any advertiser drive lower-funnel performance by optimizing targeting, managing budgets, or deciding how much to bid.”
The specific solutions in the Performance+ suite include:
- Performance+ Creative: Uses AI to replace plain backgrounds with inspiring images to help each ad reach the right audience.
- Performance+ Bidding: Automatically adjusts bids to optimize budgets and, in theory, lower costs.
- Performance+ ROAS: Works to support conversions by focusing on higher-value purchases, with your budget, to improve ROAS.
- Performance+ Budgets: Allocates lifetime or daily budget by matching spend with performance to try to cut costs.
- Performance+ Targeting: Automatically shows ads to relevant audiences by analyzing an ad’s content, extending reach beyond keyword or interest targeting.
Early users include Walgreens and Prada — a diverse pair, indeed.
Why This Matters:
Tech giants like Meta and Google, and now Pinterest, are increasingly positioning AI as the key to unlocking better advertising performance. Just look at the offerings: Pinterest’s Performance+, Meta’s Advantage+, and Google’s Performance Max. All three tout their use AI to automate and optimize aspects of campaigns, from creative generation and targeting to bidding and budget allocation.
These AI-powered tools are simply responding to what advertisers say they want from AI: better performance and efficiency. A Yahoo and Publicis Media survey found 75% of advertisers see AI as a way to drive cost efficiencies, and 66% expect it to boost performance. Tools like Pinterest’s Performance+, Meta’s Advantage+, and Google’s PMax are working to deliver on these expectations.
Experts React:
“Ad innovation on Pinterest has been at an all-time high,” says Bill Watkins, Pinterest CRO. “We’re still the place for brands to drive discovery, but we’re now delivering on lower funnel and creative too.”
Our Take:
AI-powered ad tools like Performance+ promise to improve campaign performance and efficiency. They try to intelligently automate targeting, bidding, and budget allocation, and can simplify campaign management overall. This is a good thing, and the results from Pinterest at launch are impressive.
However, this shift also raises questions about advertiser control and the balance between automation and transparency. Advertisers have been publicly debating AI’s benefits against concerns about media quality and measurement clarity. They worry increased AI-based automation might reduce control and insight into ad delivery, compromising the transparency they’ve fought for from platforms. That debate isn’t ending anytime soon.
