Social network Pinterest has exploded in popularity since launching in 2010. As the site continues to grow, crucial decisions must be made in order to maintain focus and handle incoming site traffic in a way that doesn’t compromise the site’s user experience. With this in mind, the image bookmarking social network is making changes to the way it handles site advertising.
“Over the past year and a half we have built an ad solution that is designed to meet the marketing objectives of any business across any industry,” Pinterest spokesperson Matt Mayzel told Loyalty360. This ad solution included full support for companies looking to place advertisements for just about anything, from banking services to cell phone plans.
Those days are over.
“We have learned a lot from our partners and have applied their feedback directly to product development,” said Mayzel. “We have decided to specifically focus on the CPG and retail industries. The content from both verticals is very popular on Pinterest and brands in those industries have had success both organically and paid.”
Pinterest’s aesthetic, from its site layout to its “pinning” feature, lends itself well to users who are looking to shop online for things like apparel and home décor. In an effort to align advertising with this mission, the site will now only offer support to similarly positioned ads.
Other industries are still able to purchase ad-space, but will no longer receive assistance from Pinterest.
The company is open to the idea of expanding its ad focus in the future, once the strategy is tested within the CPG and retail verticals. 
“Our goal is to make the partner experience even better and establish repeatable best practices for those partners.” Mayzel continued, “As a small company, we believe this is the best approach to creating the best ad program over the long term. Our plan is to then roll those learnings out to other verticals.”
As the site continues to pick up steam, Pinterest’s advertisement strategy is likely to set the ceiling of what the company can achieve in coming years. If executed properly, the re-focus may prove to be exactly what the brand needs to reach new heights.