Pinterest’s CEO Bill Ready is betting big on search as the company’s core strategy, reversing a period of user decline and repositioning the platform for long-term growth. When Ready took over in 2022, Pinterest was struggling after a failed attempt to compete with TikTok by doubling down on short-form video and live shopping. He quickly realized the platform didn’t need to be another social media clone. Instead, he focused on what Pinterest had always done best: helping users discover ideas through visual search. Since then, Pinterest has seen steady user growth, reaching 600 million monthly active users. Two-thirds of all interactions on the platform now involve search, and the company processes about 80 billion monthly search queries. This shift has resonated especially with Gen Z, more than half of whom now use Pinterest, according to a 2025 Adobe survey. Forty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents said they use the platform specifically for search, drawn by its visual, positive, and intention-driven experience. Ready believes Pinterest’s strength lies in combining personalized, visual search with high commercial intent. Unlike social media, where content is often passive, Pinterest users come with clear goals—whether it’s finding a recipe, planning a wedding, or shopping for clothes. This makes the platform highly valuable for advertisers. Two-thirds of Pinterest’s ad revenue comes from lower-funnel, purchase-driven ads, which rely on strong user intent signals. To enhance this experience, Pinterest has rolled out AI-powered tools that improve personalization. Users can now search using images and receive results tailored to their body type, skin tone, and hair texture. The visual search feature allows users to click on items in a saved image—like a lamp or dress—and instantly find similar or exact products. This capability has helped Pinterest become a major player in visual commerce, a space also being pursued by Google, TikTok, and Amazon. In October, Pinterest launched a chat-based shopping assistant, letting users interact with AI to find products through text or voice. Ready calls this an “AI-powered shopping assistant,” positioning Pinterest not just as a discovery tool but as a proactive guide in the shopping journey. Despite these gains, Pinterest’s stock has underperformed, dropping over 20% after a recent earnings report that missed expectations and included weak guidance for the fourth quarter. Tariffs were cited as a factor affecting ad sales. Still, analysts like Raymond James’ Josh Beck remain cautiously optimistic, noting Pinterest’s strong progress in shopping and untapped advertising potential. The broader search landscape is shifting. With rising use of AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, and platforms like TikTok and YouTube becoming go-to sources for answers, traditional search is no longer dominated by Google alone. A McKinsey survey found that about half of U.S. consumers now intentionally use AI-powered search engines, with many relying on them for buying decisions. Ready sees this as an opening. While Google still holds about 90% of the traditional search market, the future of search is becoming more fragmented and diverse. Pinterest’s focus on visual, intent-rich search gives it a unique edge in a world where users want fast, frictionless, and personalized ways to find what they need—especially when shopping. For Ready, search isn’t just a feature. It’s the foundation of Pinterest’s future.