Pinterest Launches Place Pins, A Tool To Help Users Plan Trips

November 20, 2013 at 21:43 PM EST

Pinterest took its biggest step toward monetization yet tonight, as the company released a new set of tools for users that would help them “explore” and share the things around them. At an event with 150 “Pinners” (and an untold number of journalists” at Pinterest HQ in San Francisco, CEO Ben Silbermann announced that the company would introduce new ways to plan trips. “We’re excited to inspire you to go out and do things,” Silbermann told the audience. The new product, called “Place Pins,” is designed to help users provide a visual guide to finding places to go and things to explore. The new tools for travelers, which were first reported by Skift, will give Pinterest a new potential revenue model. The announcement comes not long after Pinterest raised a huge new funding round, bringing in $225 million from Fidelity Investments, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, FirstMark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Valiant Capital Management. To justify that investment, which valued the company at $3.8 billion, Pinterest has begun looking for ways to make money off the massive number of user-curated pieces of content that have been collected from around the web. One of the ways Pinterest is accomplishing that is with Promoted Pins, which are paid placements from various brands and advertisements that show up within Pinterest category and search fields. There are a number of other features the company has recently rolled out, such as a now-trending tool, personalized pin recommendations, price alerts, and more tools for businesses that are designed to increase the reach of companies trying to connect with potential customers. It’s also recently hired digital media executive and recent San Francisco Chronicle president Joanne Bradford as its head of advertiser and media partnerships. Bradford, who had previously served as chief revenue and marketing officer at Demand Media, as well as roles at Yahoo and Microsoft, brings some advertising expertise to the company, which up until now has held off on a big monetization push. (Updating…)

“We're excited to inspire you to go out and do things,” Silbermann told the audience. The new product, called “Place Pins,” is designed to help users provide a visual guide to finding places to go and things to explore.

The new tools for travelers, which were first reported by Skift, will give Pinterest a new potential revenue model.

The announcement comes not long after Pinterest raised a huge new funding round, bringing in $225 million from Fidelity Investments, as well as existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, FirstMark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Valiant Capital Management. To justify that investment, which valued the company at $3.8 billion, Pinterest has begun looking for ways to make money off the massive number of user-curated pieces of content that have been collected from around the web.

One of the ways Pinterest is accomplishing that is with Promoted Pins, which are paid placements from various brands and advertisements that show up within Pinterest category and search fields. There are a number of other features the company has recently rolled out, such as a now-trending tool, personalized pin recommendations, price alerts, and more tools for businesses that are designed to increase the reach of companies trying to connect with potential customers.

It's also recently hired digital media executive and recent San Francisco Chronicle president Joanne Bradford as its head of advertiser and media partnerships. Bradford, who had previously served as chief revenue and marketing officer at Demand Media, as well as roles at Yahoo and Microsoft, brings some advertising expertise to the company, which up until now has held off on a big monetization push.

(Updating…)