Every month, more than half a billion people open Pinterest to start a project, find an outfit, discover a product, or try a recipe. Much more than a social feed, the platform positions itself as a “visual discovery engine”: it brings users closer to the image or video most likely to trigger an action.
For organic marketing specialists and creators who embrace content marketing, everything relies on an algorithm that’s constantly evolving.
Understanding it can turn a single Pin into months—or even years—of traffic and sales; ignoring it dooms even the most beautiful visuals to sink into the home feed.
How the algorithm works
From chronological to Smart Feed
Before 2014, Pinterest ranked Pins in reverse chronological order: volume prevailed. With Smart Feed, each slot in the feed is now filled using a “best-first” model that combines freshness, relevance, and quality.
Recency still matters, but only within the context of what the algorithm deems relevant for each person.
Large-scale candidate generation
First step: build a vast candidate set. Pinterest explores its Pin-board graph, the product of billions of links created when users save ideas.
A system called Pixie performs “random walks” to surface related items, while PinSage, a graph neural network, converts each piece of content into high-dimensional vectors. As a result, two Pins with different titles but about “cozy fall decor” end up close to each other in this digital space.
Ranking models: Pinnability → TransAct → TransAct V2
Second step: rank these candidates. Early Pinnability models relied on a user’s hundred most recent actions.
In 2023, the Transformer TransAct improved sequence analysis. In 2025, TransAct V2 expands context to 16,000 actions and introduces a “next-action” loss function that optimizes for the future action rather than just the immediate click, generating +6.3% saves and –12.8% hides according to Pinterest.
Engagement philosophy
Pinterest prioritizes “inspired action” over watch time. Saves—pinning an idea to a board—signal intent and therefore carry more weight than passive views. Two Pins with identical impressions will be separated by their save rate.
Key signals you can influence
Pin quality
Save rate—i.e., the number of saves divided by the number of impressions—remains the key performance indicator (KPI) of record.
Zooms, comments, and outbound clicks refine the measure, but a “save-worthy” Pin dominates distribution. To improve it, draw inspiration from thumbnail best practices and compelling storytelling.
Creator quality
Consistency and historical engagement strengthen an account’s credibility. Publishing (or scheduling) fresh ideas every week trains the algorithm to trust new content; sporadic or “spammy” activity quickly destroys that trust.
To build a coherent presence, strengthen your personal brand and engage your community through community building.
Domain quality
When a Pin links to an external site, Pinterest analyzes signals such as time spent on the page (in its in-app browser), bounce rate, or how often ideas from that domain are saved.
Fast, mobile-friendly pages paired with clean Schema markup create a positive feedback loop, while slow or misleading pages produce the opposite effect.
Topic and keyword relevance
Computer vision, alt text, board titles, and a semantic classifier powered by a large language model (LLM) in 2025 all contribute to categorization.
Clear, natural language beats keyword stuffing, especially since the model now understands near-synonyms and intent. Leverage the long tail to capture highly specific queries.
Ethical and policy guardrails
Risk reduction and content bans
Since 2021, Pinterest has banned weight-loss ads and uses image classifiers to limit content related to self-harm or extremism.
Searches signaling distress trigger “compassionate search” interstitials. This vigilance aligns with the legal and ethical framework for influencers.
Anti-spam and quality filters
Accounts that repeatedly publish identical image/URL combinations see their reach reduced. Misleading links can limit impressions or even lead to suspension. A phenomenon similar to content cannibalization observed elsewhere.
Transparency and DSA compliance
Under the European Digital Services Act (DSA), Pinterest now publishes annual risk assessment reports: audits of recommendation diversity and appeal procedures in case of erroneous downranking.
Optimization playbook for 2025
Create “save-worthy” Pins
Start with value first: striking visuals, a clear benefit-driven title, and a subtle prompt to “Save for later.” Step-by-step tutorials consistently outperform overly vague moodboards. Rely on analytics data to understand what truly holds attention.
Master metadata and keywords
Name boards and Pins in users’ language: “DIY cedar planter” beats “Garden vibe.” One or two relevant hashtags are enough; beyond that, it starts to look like spam.
Play freshness and consistency
Publish one to five new Pins per day—or at least a few per week—to keep the algorithm alert. Space identical URLs at least a week apart and use scheduling tools to maintain a steady cadence.
Diversify formats
Idea Pins, short videos, and Shopping Pins benefit from premium placements; alternate static images, short videos, and multi-page tutorials.
Avoid classic pitfalls
Ditch outdated tactics: pinning the same image to twenty boards in an hour, off-topic hashtags, slow landing pages, or visuals covered in watermarks all trigger quality filters.
Advanced tactics and tools
Seasonal and evergreen strategy
TransAct V2’s long-term memory resurfaces last year’s Pins when seasonal interest rises. Refresh the same URL each year with a new creative to ride the wave.
Data-driven iteration
In Pinterest Analytics, prioritize save rate over raw impressions. Replicate winning angles—colors, title formats, themes—in your next batch.
External research tools
Pinterest Trends highlights rising queries, Tailwind calculates the optimal pinning cadence, and KeywordTool.io reveals long-tail terms to “own” before your competitors.
A/B experimentation framework
Test only one element at a time: hook, framing, or video thumbnail. Measure the change in save rate and zooms over seven days, then quickly pull the underperformers.
Case studies and examples
Resurgence of a holiday recipe Pin
A gingerbread cookie Pin published in 2023 stayed dormant before jumping in December 2025, when TransAct V2 detected the seasonal baking wave. The creator added a fresh photo to the same URL and saw traffic pick back up.
A creator’s pivot to Idea Pins
A lifestyle blogger moved from static collages to 30-second runway-style videos. In two months, she doubled her average impressions per Pin and accelerated follower growth, attracting new brands committed to influence marketing.
Improving a brand’s domain quality
A home decor e-tailer shaved two seconds off mobile load time and enabled Product Rich Pins.
Saves per thousand impressions rose sharply, as did outbound click-through rate: optimizing the tech can prove more profitable than multiplying influencer collaborations.