The news: Pinterest audiences can now be accessed on CTV devices in the first major development since Pinterest acquired performance TV ad company tvScientific.

• Marketers can now tap Pinterest’s intent data to connect with viewers across premium CTV placements, supported by tvScientific’s AI-driven optimization. The move will ideally simplify brands’ ability to connect with target audiences and boost measurable outcomes.
• Companies in initial tests saw an average 27% increase in outcomes per $100 in spend and a 65% increase in purchases. A test with LG helped the company increase unique household reach by 73%, driving a 24% lift in net new customers.

The move will “give advertisers new ways to reach people at every stage of the shopping journey, from discovery to buying, both on and off Pinterest,” noted Lee Brown, Pinterest’s chief business officer.

Why it matters: Pinterest is betting that pairing its audience signals with tvScientific’s delivery and optimization technology will make CTV a more performance-oriented channel for marketers.

• Pinterest will reach 22.6 million US social buyers this year, per our forecast, representing 9.7% of digital buyers, with both figures expected to grow. Its first major move with tvScientific should help Pinterest extend monetization of its commerce-oriented audience beyond its own platform.
• Pinterest generates more than 80 billion searches each month, according to tvScientific CEO Jason Fairchild. With those signals now flowing into tvScientific, Pinterest can put that intent data to work in CTV at scale.

For Pinterest specifically, the deal matters because it positions the platform as a unified search, social, and TV performance channel that is more likely to win budget by offering intent-driven advertising capabilities across screens.

Implications for marketers: Access to Pinterest’s high-intent audiences gives marketers a new way to make CTV spending more performance-focused.

• Marketers can now run CTV campaigns tied more closely to outcomes like conversions. That transforms CTV advertising from a broad reach tool into a channel with digital-like attribution. It also gives brands a way to apply lower-funnel signals to a format that has traditionally been used more for upper-funnel awareness.
• Cross-screen capabilities offer a more holistic view of campaign effectiveness across touchpoints, ensuring marketers can better optimize spending across channels. That could make it easier for advertisers to coordinate messaging across discovery, consideration, and purchase, while also improving how they evaluate CTV’s role alongside social.
• For marketers under pressure to prove performance, that could make CTV a more practical part of media plans.