Blab Tech
Pinterest Unveils AI-Powered Advertising Tools Ahead of Cannes Lions
Pinterest announced a suite of AI‑driven tools for advertisers and partners in a press release issued on 17 June 2026, ahead of the company’s appearance at the Cannes Lions festival. The new features—Business Assistant, Pinterest Model Context Protocol (MCP), Performance+ creative, and the experimental Ask Pinterest app—are positioned as part of a broader shift from keyword‑based discovery to conversational, generative search.
Pinterest’s Chief Business Officer, Lee Brown, said the platform’s core value lies in users’ intent to plan, curate and act. "The future of discovery won’t be driven by keywords alone. It will be shaped by context, taste, and trusted recommendations," Brown explained. The company is building AI experiences that tap into those signals to deliver more relevant guidance to advertisers.
Business Assistant is an AI collaborator integrated into Ads Manager and the Pinterest mobile app. The tool is currently in a closed beta limited to U.S. advertisers. It combines an advertiser’s business data with Pinterest’s platform insights to suggest performance opportunities. Rather than text, the assistant displays visual trends in graphs and highlights top Pins that can inspire ad creative. For example, if searches for “clean beauty routine” rise 42 % in a week, Business Assistant shows the trend’s growth curve and pins that are leading the trend. The mobile version sends proactive notifications about emerging trends, campaign performance, and optimization suggestions.
Pinterest MCP, described as a Model Context Protocol, is an AI‑native infrastructure that connects Pinterest to partner tools such as PMG, Pacvue, Dentsu, Havas, Innovid by Mediaocean, and Omnicom’s Jump 450. The protocol grants secure access to campaign, analytics and keyword data, grounding partner workflows in Pinterest’s unique signals of taste, trends and intent. "Pinterest MCP helps us integrate Pinterest directly into the workflows our teams are already building," said Chris Ivey, President of Jump 450. "What makes Pinterest especially compelling is the strength of its intent signals."
The Performance+ creative feature introduces a new AI model that performs dynamic creative selection. The model evaluates a broader set of creatives and identifies the variant most likely to perform for each ad impression, shifting optimization from the ad level to the asset level. In internal testing, the new model increased click volume by 7.5 % compared to the previous single‑variant model. Advertisers also gain new ad‑review tools and enhanced creative reporting breakouts.
Ask Pinterest is an experimental app that extends Pinterest’s Taste Graph and visual discovery experience beyond the main app. The app is designed for conversational, multi‑step shopping decisions that do not fit a single search, such as planning a budget dinner party, finding a personal gift or furnishing a room over time. By keeping context across sessions, the app explores how AI can support richer shopping experiences. Insights from Ask Pinterest will inform future AI‑powered experiences in the core Pinterest app.
Pinterest will showcase these developments at the Pinterest Manifestival, scheduled for 28 June 2026 at the Carlton Beach Club in Cannes. The event will coincide with the Cannes Lions festival, and attendees can RSVP at PinterestCannes.com.
In summary, Pinterest is rolling out AI‑enhanced tools that aim to make advertiser workflows more data‑driven, partner integrations more seamless, and creative optimization more granular. The features are currently in beta or experimental phases, and the company plans to refine them through user feedback gathered at Cannes and beyond. The launch reflects Pinterest’s strategy to position itself as a platform where intent, taste and recommendation drive discovery and action.
Pinterest’s Chief Business Officer, Lee Brown, said the platform’s core value lies in users’ intent to plan, curate and act. "The future of discovery won’t be driven by keywords alone. It will be shaped by context, taste, and trusted recommendations," Brown explained. The company is building AI experiences that tap into those signals to deliver more relevant guidance to advertisers.
Business Assistant is an AI collaborator integrated into Ads Manager and the Pinterest mobile app. The tool is currently in a closed beta limited to U.S. advertisers. It combines an advertiser’s business data with Pinterest’s platform insights to suggest performance opportunities. Rather than text, the assistant displays visual trends in graphs and highlights top Pins that can inspire ad creative. For example, if searches for “clean beauty routine” rise 42 % in a week, Business Assistant shows the trend’s growth curve and pins that are leading the trend. The mobile version sends proactive notifications about emerging trends, campaign performance, and optimization suggestions.
Pinterest MCP, described as a Model Context Protocol, is an AI‑native infrastructure that connects Pinterest to partner tools such as PMG, Pacvue, Dentsu, Havas, Innovid by Mediaocean, and Omnicom’s Jump 450. The protocol grants secure access to campaign, analytics and keyword data, grounding partner workflows in Pinterest’s unique signals of taste, trends and intent. "Pinterest MCP helps us integrate Pinterest directly into the workflows our teams are already building," said Chris Ivey, President of Jump 450. "What makes Pinterest especially compelling is the strength of its intent signals."
The Performance+ creative feature introduces a new AI model that performs dynamic creative selection. The model evaluates a broader set of creatives and identifies the variant most likely to perform for each ad impression, shifting optimization from the ad level to the asset level. In internal testing, the new model increased click volume by 7.5 % compared to the previous single‑variant model. Advertisers also gain new ad‑review tools and enhanced creative reporting breakouts.
Ask Pinterest is an experimental app that extends Pinterest’s Taste Graph and visual discovery experience beyond the main app. The app is designed for conversational, multi‑step shopping decisions that do not fit a single search, such as planning a budget dinner party, finding a personal gift or furnishing a room over time. By keeping context across sessions, the app explores how AI can support richer shopping experiences. Insights from Ask Pinterest will inform future AI‑powered experiences in the core Pinterest app.
Pinterest will showcase these developments at the Pinterest Manifestival, scheduled for 28 June 2026 at the Carlton Beach Club in Cannes. The event will coincide with the Cannes Lions festival, and attendees can RSVP at PinterestCannes.com.
In summary, Pinterest is rolling out AI‑enhanced tools that aim to make advertiser workflows more data‑driven, partner integrations more seamless, and creative optimization more granular. The features are currently in beta or experimental phases, and the company plans to refine them through user feedback gathered at Cannes and beyond. The launch reflects Pinterest’s strategy to position itself as a platform where intent, taste and recommendation drive discovery and action.
