Pinterest facts for kids
Logo used since 2017
|
|
|
Screenshot
The default page shown to logged-out users (the background montage images are variable)
|
|
| Type of business | Public |
|---|---|
|
Type of site
|
Social media service |
| Traded as |
|
| Founded | December 2009 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Founder(s) |
|
| Key people |
|
| Industry | Internet |
| Revenue |  US$3.65 billion (2024) |
| Operating income | US$180 million (2024) |
| Net income | US$1.86 billion (2024) |
| Total assets | US$5.34 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$4.75 billion (2024) |
| Employees | 4,666 (2024) |
| Users | 553 million MAU (2024) |
Pinterest is a popular online service where you can find and share ideas using pictures. Think of it like a digital bulletin board where you can "pin" images that inspire you. People use Pinterest to find recipes, home decor ideas, fashion tips, and lots of other cool stuff. It's a great place for getting creative ideas and inspiration from all over the internet.
Pinterest, Inc. was started by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp. Its main office is in San Francisco, USA.
Contents
How Pinterest Started
Pinterest grew from an earlier app called Tote. Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra created Tote to be like a digital version of paper catalogs. It was hard for people to buy things easily through Tote because mobile payment technology wasn't very good back then.
However, users loved collecting their favorite items and sharing them with others on Tote. Ben Silbermann noticed this and decided to change the company's focus. They started building Pinterest, which let users collect and share all sorts of ideas and images.
Early Days and Growth
The idea for Pinterest began in December 2009. The website first launched a test version in March 2010. Nine months later, it had 10,000 users. Ben Silbermann even called or met with the first 5,000 users himself!
When an iPhone app for Pinterest came out in March 2011, many more people downloaded it than expected. Soon after, an iPad app and a mobile version for other phones were also released. For a while, Silbermann and a few programmers ran the site from a small apartment.
Pinterest grew very quickly. In August 2011, Time magazine called Pinterest one of the "50 Best Websites of 2011." By December 2011, it was one of the top 10 biggest social networks. Pinterest also won the "Best New Startup of 2011" award. In January 2012, it became the fastest website ever to reach 10 million unique visitors in the U.S.
In March 2012, Pinterest changed its rules so it no longer had the right to sell users' content. In August 2012, they made it so you didn't need an invitation to join the site anymore. Later that year, Pinterest launched special accounts for businesses.
In April 2017, Pinterest removed its "liking" feature for posts. This was because users already had "boards" to collect things they liked. All old "liked" posts were turned into a collection board.
Over the years, Pinterest has focused more on "visual search" (finding things using pictures) and online shopping.
Becoming a Public Company
In February 2019, Pinterest announced it was planning to offer its stock to the public for the first time. This is called an Initial Public Offering (IPO). At that time, the company was valued at $12 billion. They officially became a public company on April 18, 2019.
In 2020, Pinterest made $1.7 billion from advertising. In March 2021, they launched "Pinterest Premiere," which are video ads that appear in users' feeds based on their interests.
In October 2021, there were talks that PayPal might buy Pinterest, but PayPal decided not to go through with the deal.
New Features and Leadership
In December 2021, Pinterest bought a video editing app called Vochi. In May 2022, they released "Pinterest TV studio," an app that lets users live-stream on the platform using different camera angles.
On June 28, 2022, Ben Silbermann, the co-founder and CEO, stepped down from his role. He became the Executive Chairman, and Bill Ready became the new Chief Executive Officer.
In August 2022, Pinterest launched a new app called Shuffles. This app lets users create collages using photos from Pinterest or their own pictures.
In January 2023, Pinterest announced a partnership with LiveRamp. This helps advertisers show personalized ads while keeping user data safe and private. A grocery store chain called Albertsons was the first to try this new feature.
How Pinterest Works
Pinterest is often described as a "catalogue of ideas" or a "visual search engine." It's not just a social network; it's a place to find inspiration.
Pins and Boards
The main parts of Pinterest are "pins" and "boards." A pin is an image that you save from a website or upload yourself. When you save a pin from someone else's board to your own, it's called "repinning."
Boards are like folders where you organize your pins around a certain theme. For example, you might have a board for "Healthy Recipes" or "Bedroom Decor Ideas." If a board has many ideas, you can create different sections within it to keep things even more organized.
You can follow other users or specific boards to see their pins in your "home feed." You can also save content from outside Pinterest using the "Save" button, which you can add to your web browser. This button was originally called "Pin it" but was changed in 2016 to be easier for new users to understand.
In August 2016, Pinterest added a video player, allowing users and brands to upload videos directly to the site.
Exploring Content
Your home feed shows pins from the users, boards, and topics you follow. It also includes some "Promoted Pins" (ads) and pins that Pinterest thinks you might like. The pin feed shows the latest activity from the boards you follow.
In October 2013, Pinterest started showing "Promoted Pins," which are advertisements. These ads are based on your interests, what you do on Pinterest, or if you've visited an advertiser's website.
In 2015, Pinterest added a cool feature that lets you search using images instead of just words.
In March 2020, Pinterest introduced the "Today" tab on the home feed, which shows popular and trending pins.
In October 2022, Pinterest added the ability to use popular songs from top artists in its video-focused "Idea Pins."
Visual Search Tools
In 2017, Pinterest launched "visual search" tools. These tools let you search for things within images. For example, you can take a picture of a chair you like, and Pinterest will show you similar chairs. These tools, powered by artificial intelligence, are called Pinterest Lens, Shop the Look, and Instant Ideas.
Shopping and Catalogs
Many businesses, especially stores, use Pinterest to promote their products online. It's like having a "virtual storefront."
In 2013, Pinterest introduced "Rich Pins." These pins give you more information, like product prices, movie ratings, or recipe ingredients, making it easier to browse.
In June 2015, Pinterest launched "buyable pins," which allowed users to buy products directly from Pinterest. In October 2018, these were replaced by "Product Pins."
In March 2019, Pinterest added product catalogs and personalized shopping suggestions. This includes a "more from [brand]" option to show you other products from the same business.
Pinterest Analytics
Pinterest Analytics is a tool that helps businesses understand how well their content is doing on Pinterest. It shows things like how many times a pin was seen (impressions), how many people clicked on it, and how many times it was saved. This data helps businesses decide what kind of content to create and when to post it.
Creator Fund
Pinterest wants to be a place for discovering and sharing personal interests. In 2021, Pinterest launched its new Creator Fund. This fund helps support creators on the platform by giving them money, ad credits, and equipment. The goal is to encourage more people to create engaging content. This program helped creators increase their monthly views by 72%.
Teen Safety Features
Pinterest has special safety features for users aged 16 and under. The minimum age to create an account is 13. For accounts under 16, the default setting is private. This means that a teen's followers and activity are hidden from the public.
Teens under 16 cannot change their profile to public. Comments on pins are restricted for users under 18. All boards and pins created by teens are only visible to them by default. Also, group board invites and messaging are limited to mutual followers. These changes were made to help protect young users and make the platform safer. Pinterest has also added more ways to report spam or inappropriate content.
How People Use Pinterest
Pinterest is a free website, but you need to sign up to use it. You can access Pinterest through a web browser or by using its apps on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 computers.
In February 2013, Pinterest had 48.7 million users worldwide. By July 2020, there were over 400 million monthly active users. As of 2024, Pinterest has 553 million monthly active users. This means that about 7.4% of the world's population over age 13 uses Pinterest.
Around 2020, Pinterest images often appeared high in Google Images search results. In 2022, Google made changes to show more variety in its search results. Pinterest said that because of these changes, their U.S. monthly active users coming from the web dropped by about 30% in 2022.
Who Uses Pinterest?
Pinterest has always been very popular with women. According to a 2023 report, about 70% of Pinterest users are women and 30% are men. While Pinterest is popular across many age groups, users from Generation Z (Gen-Z) are now the largest group, making up 42% of Pinterest's global users. In the United States, Pinterest reaches about 46% of users aged 18-24 and 40% of those aged 25-34. Although men were not the main audience in the past, their use of Pinterest has increased by 48%.
Pinterest as a Company
_02.jpg)
Pinterest, Inc. has its main office in San Francisco, California. It used to be in Palo Alto before moving in 2012.
In early 2011, the company received $10 million in funding from investors. In October 2011, they got another $27 million, which valued the company at $200 million. Paul Sciarra, one of the co-founders, left his role at Pinterest in April 2012.
On May 17, 2012, a Japanese e-commerce company called Rakuten led a $100 million investment in Pinterest. This valued the company at $1.5 billion.
In September 2012, Pinterest hired Jon Jenkins, who used to be an engineering leader at Amazon, as their new head of engineering.
In late October 2013, Pinterest received another $225 million in funding, which valued the website at $3.8 billion.
In 2014, Pinterest started making money for the first time by charging advertisers. By 2015, investors valued Pinterest, Inc. at $11 billion, making it a "unicorn" (a startup company worth over $1 billion). As of 2017, the company was valued at $12 billion.
In June 2017, Pinterest raised another $150 million from its existing investors.
In August 2020, Pinterest paid $89.5 million to cancel a large office space lease in San Francisco.
In April 2023, Pinterest announced a partnership with Amazon. This means that third-party ads will be shown on Pinterest, and users can be sent to Amazon to buy products.
Companies Pinterest Has Bought
Pinterest has bought several smaller companies to improve its services:
- In March 2013, Pinterest bought Livestar.
- In October 2013, Pinterest bought Hackermeter. Its co-founders joined Pinterest as engineers.
- In April 2015, Pinterest bought the team from Hike Labs.
- In May 2016, Pinterest bought URX, a startup that helped them understand content better and recommend it to users.
- On August 23, 2016, Pinterest announced it was buying the team behind Instapaper, an app that saves articles for later reading.
- On March 8, 2017, Pinterest bought Jelly Industries, a small search-engine company.
- In December 2021, Pinterest bought the Vochi app.
- In June 2022, Pinterest bought The Yes, an AI-powered fashion shopping platform.
See also
In Spanish: Pinterest para niños
- List of image-sharing websites
- Timeline of social media
