Pinterest will start selling advertising in the UK, signalling the socal media scrapbooking site’s first to make money from its more than 45 million users who reside outside the US.
John Lewis, Nestlé and Tesco are among the first UK brands to use Pinterest ads.
Promoted Pins are regular Pins that advertisers can pay for so that more of their desired audience sees them in relevant search results, category feeds and home feed.
Pinterest has made international expansion a priority as it seeks to grow its 100-million user base closer to the size of social peers Twitter and Facebook, which have over 320 million and 1.6 billion monthly users.
Adele Cooper, the UK country manager for Pinterest, said: “Ideas from businesses actually help people get closer to finding the products and services that are right for them.
“Promoted Pins make it easier for brands to reach people who are in that ‘consideration mindset’ – open to inspiration from credible sources.
“No other platform has an audience this receptive. In return, Promoted Pins are proven to help businesses achieve their marketing goals from building brand equity to driving online sales.”
Pinterest plans to open Promoted Pins up to more English-speaking markets in the second half of 2016
The company, which was valued at $11 billion a year ago, generated roughly $100 million in revenue last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Now Pinterest will test whether it can also draw revenue from overseas advertisers, a critical step for if and when the company makes its Wall Street debut.