Amid disappointing earnings, Pinterest claims it sees more searches than ChatGPT | TechCrunch
Summary
Pinterest reports disappointing earnings but claims to surpass ChatGPT in search volume, highlighting its potential as a commercial search platform despite challenges in converting user engagement into ad revenue.
Why It Matters
This article sheds light on Pinterest's struggle to monetize its platform effectively, especially in the face of increasing competition from AI-driven search tools. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for investors and marketers as they navigate the evolving digital advertising landscape.
Key Takeaways
- Pinterest claims 80 billion searches monthly, exceeding ChatGPT's 75 billion, with over half being commercial.
- Despite a growing user base, Pinterest missed earnings expectations due to reduced ad spending from larger advertisers.
- The company faces challenges in converting high user engagement into advertising revenue.
- Pinterest is enhancing its platform with visual search and personalization to improve commercial outcomes.
- The shift towards AI in shopping may impact Pinterest's traditional advertising model.
After a particularly poor performance on its fourth-quarter earnings, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready attempted to favorably compare the digital pinboarding site to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. Trying to highlight its potential as a unique search destination, Ready asserted that the site sees larger search volume than ChatGPT. According to third-party data, ChatGPT sees 75 billion searches per month, while Pinterest sees 80 billion searches and generates 1.7 billion monthly clicks, he said. “That makes us one of the largest search destinations in the world. And importantly, more than half of those searches are commercial in nature, compared to, I think . . . approximately 2% [of ChatGPT searches],” Ready added. Pinterest in the fourth quarter missed expectations on both revenue and earnings per share, reporting $1.32 billion in revenue versus $1.33 billion expected, and earnings per share of 67 cents, compared to the 69 cents projected. It also forecast that first-quarter 2026 sales will come in between $951 million to $971 million, below the $980 million expected. The company blamed its shortfall on larger advertisers pulling back on spend, particularly in Europe, and a new furniture tariff implemented in October that caused issues within the home category. It said those trends could worsen in the first quarter. Surprisingly, Pinterest missed on earnings despite a user base that’s growing faster than expected. The company reported monthly active users were up 12% year-over-ye...
