Pinterest is expanding its partnership with Amazon. The social pinboard site said on Wednesday that it will now serve as a home for creators’ Amazon Storefronts. These online stores allow creators to generate income from affiliate links that direct their fans to products that they often feature in their videos and social media content.
The move gives Pinterest another way to appeal to creators who have largely built their shopping and affiliate businesses on larger platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. Pinterest says more than half its users visit it to shop, and that it sees more than 80 billion searches per month.
The deal comes as Pinterest works to regain its position as a shopping destination, and responds to user complaints about the growing volume of AI-generated content on the platform.
Pinterest said creators will now be able to use a new tool to connect their Amazon Storefront directly to their Pinterest account. After setup, their affiliate link will be applied automatically whenever they tag an eligible Amazon product, automating the process of promoting items.
These storefronts can then be featured on creators’ Pinterest profiles, allowing their fans and followers to see a broader picture of their recommendations beyond a single Pin or Board.
The deal ties Amazon and Pinterest closer together after the companies introduced their multi-year ads partnership in 2023, which made Amazon the first partner on third-party ads on Pinterest. The company then followed this up with a similar advertising deal with Google in 2024, as it continued to struggle to grow revenue for its popular but not fully monetized bookmarking, shopping, and inspiration platform.
However, Pinterest has also faced a barrage of AI content over the past year that has alienated some of its user base and led to many complaints about “AI slop.” The company last year rolled out a series of new tools to fight the AI content and put users in control, but it can only do so much when much of the AI content remains unlabeled.
This partnership offers Pinterest a new way to get back on track. By working with real-world creators, Pinterest could potentially reverse its souring reputation and become known once again as a place to shop and be inspired by other people’s recommendations.
Pinterest notes it will support storefront linking with “other partners” soon.
Source: TechCrunch
