Pinterest's new measurement tool takes on Apple's data changes

Pinterest is releasing a new ad product, a conversion API, making it the latest mobile app to launch new tech for tracking ad performance after Apple’s privacy changes last year made it harder to measure ad campaigns. Pinterest made the announcement today about its conversion API to coincide with Advertising Week in New York City. The API for Conversions, as Pinterest called the application programming interface, is similar to ones already in operation at rivals such as Meta, Twitter and Snapchat. “Pinterest's new API for Conversions provides advertisers a comprehensive view of campaign performance to measure the actions those audiences took on an advertiser’s site,” Pinterest said in its announcement. “The Pinterest API will also integrate conversions features globally in the coming weeks with commerce partner Shopify and tag management partner Google Tag Manager.” Related: How Meta is rebuilding its ad platform Shopify is the mobile commerce platform that helps merchants coordinate marketing across apps including Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snap and TikTok. All the apps have been affected by privacy changes on iPhones, which diminished their access to data about consumers’ activity. Last year, Apple’s iOS update made it so the apps could not track consumers without express permission under Apple’s App Tracking Transparency rules. Google is following Apple's privacy changes on Android and it plans to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome in 2024, which is set to hit online marketing tracking, too. Now, apps are developing tools like conversion APIs, which brands and ad agencies activate to keep measuring ad performance. In its Advertising Week announcement, Pinterest said that the conversion API was a “way for advertisers to connect their data to Pinterest, allowing for better targeting and measurement.” “This is especially important as the industry evolves,” Pinterest said. Advertising Week 2022 Updates and analysis from the annual event Read more here For mobile apps, the race has been on to rework their tracking, ad targeting and measurement to prove to advertisers they are still effective ad channels. Pinterest has been hit hard by Apple’s changes, much like its rivals, but in recent weeks the company has mounted somewhat of a rally. Last week, Bloomberg News noted that Pinterest’s stock outperformed Meta and Snap since mid-June, citing the business’ role in search advertising. Search advertising has been seen as more resilient than display ads on mobile, because when consumers search for products, it doesn’t require much additional data to discover their intent and target ads, accordingly. Pinterest has positioned itself as a platform that is adjacent to commerce. Last quarter, Pinterest did see a dip in users, however, with monthly active users down 5% year over year to 433 million users. In June, Pinterest picked a new CEO, Bill Ready, who replaced co-founder Ben Silbermann. Ready had been head of commerce products at Google. At Advertising Week, Pinterest also expanded its “trends tool.” The trends are meant to show brands what products are popping on the platform as they head into the holiday sales rush, Pinterest said. Pinterest used Ally Financial, the bank holding company, as an example of how marketers are tapping into trends to inform ad creative. In the past year, Ally built ad campaigns that incorporated holiday gift tips and tax refund spending ideas. “They saw 33% more efficient CPMs [cost per thousand ad impressions],” Pinterest said, adding that the campaigns drove better performance in getting new accounts opened at Ally.

Pinterest's new measurement tool takes on Apple's data changes

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