Pinterest debuts audience extension offering on CTV

Pinterest today announced that advertisers can purchase the social platform’s audiences on third-party CTV properties, a facility made possible by its $300 million-plus purchase of tvScientific, which it closed earlier this year. 

It’s the first time the social platform has made its 600 million monthly active users available to marketers on third-party media properties — a technique widely termed as “audience extension” — with Pinterest using this week’s POSSIBLE conference, hosted in Miami, Fla., to trumpet the launch. 

Pinterest executives told Digiday advertisers can target audience segments using both deterministic, i.e., by employing a user ID, and probabilistic means, i.e., by using data modeling. Early tests indicated that combining Pinterest’s first-party data with tvScientific’s AI improved advertisers’ outcomes by 27%, with Jason Fairchild, CEO, tvScientific, claiming the offering involved using “custom data science” to test for proven sales, “then scale.” 

He also noted that the duo has partnered with “all the major SSPs” [supply-side platforms] to source inventory for the launch of tvScientific by Pinterest, marking the social platform’s debut cross-screen on audiences play, including CTV.

Speaking with journalists ahead of the launch, Lee Brown, chief business officer, Pinterest, was keen to point out how the platform’s audience “ages down,” as well as their “high intent” mindset. “Pinterest is where Gen Z comes to search and shop,” he said, “not just doom scroll.”  

In a statement, he added, “Because of how users search and shop on the platform, we can give users new ways to reach people at every single stage of the shopping journey, from discovery to buying, both on and off Pinterest.” 

A cohort of performance-focused CTV firms — including tvScientific, MNTN and Vibe — has emerged to make TV advertising more measurable and outcome-driven, targeting SMB and mid-market advertisers that prioritize attribution over awareness. While major DSPs like The Trade Desk and DV360 dominate large-scale, agency-led buys, these challengers occupy a niche centered on accountability.

TvScientific’s positioning makes it a strategic fit for Pinterest, which has been shifting toward performance marketing but lacks an off-platform video channel with robust measurement. The deal, reportedly valued between $300 million and $350 million, reflects that gap, with sources estimating tvScientific generates around $100 million in annual revenue, netting roughly $50 million.