Pinterest is making a significant move into the connected TV (CTV) advertising space with its acquisition of TvScientific, a specialized CTV ad platform. This strategic purchase aims to integrate Pinterest's rich, intent-based audience data with TvScientific's advanced CTV advertising engine, marking a crucial step towards enhancing performance advertising and expanding cross-screen capabilities for brands.
The deal, announced via a press release, is expected to finalize in the first half of next year. While financial terms remain undisclosed, Pinterest indicated the acquisition would not materially impact its financial results. TvScientific will continue to operate under its existing brand post-acquisition, initially focusing on scaling its operations within the U.S. before expanding into international markets.
This acquisition represents Pinterest's first venture into combining its unique audience insights—derived from 600 million monthly active users seeking style and product inspiration—with a dedicated CTV advertising solution. TvScientific's platform, known for reaching 95% of ad-supported video-on-demand audiences and its proprietary identity solution, will be directly integrated into Pinterest's performance ad products, including its AI-powered Pinterest Performance+ suite.
The integration is designed to offer advertisers clearer insights into how CTV campaigns drive business outcomes, making the channel more measurable and accessible. It also broadens Pinterest's reach beyond its traditional mobile and desktop roots, where growth opportunities might be more challenging. TvScientific also brings an automated media-buying platform and AI-powered optimization tools to the table.
"People plan and shop across multiple screens, and advertisers need performance solutions that reflect that reality. For the first time, Pinterest advertisers will be able to evaluate TV with the clarity they expect from their performance channels," said Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest, in a statement. "Looking ahead, advertisers will be able to buy TV with the performance metrics they are already using, turning Pinterest into a true search, social, and CTV performance solution."
"This is an exciting progression in our multi-year strategy to drive new sources of demand to Pinterest and begin to allow advertisers to reach our valuable audience beyond our platform," Ready added.
The company aims to bring the same level of precision available in digital advertising to CTV, positioning itself as a comprehensive multichannel ad platform for brands seeking all-in-one partners and shifting budgets towards performance marketing.
Despite a 17% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.05 billion for the third quarter ended September 30, Pinterest recently missed analyst expectations on earnings and provided a disappointing guidance for Q4, an important holiday shopping window. This highlights the strategic importance of new growth avenues like CTV to diversify and strengthen its advertising offerings.
