Pinterest acquires tvScientific to expand into connected TV advertising

Pinterest reached a definitive agreement on December 11, 2025, to acquire tvScientific, a connected television advertising platform specializing in performance measurement. The transaction marks the visual discovery company's first major expansion into television advertising, combining its 600 million monthly active users with deterministic attribution technology designed for streaming environments.

According to the announcement, tvScientific will continue operating under its existing brand following transaction completion expected in the first half of 2026. Financial terms remained undisclosed, and Pinterest stated the acquisition would not materially impact its financial results. The deal requires customary regulatory approvals before closing.

The acquisition addresses persistent challenges facing advertisers attempting to measure television's impact on business outcomes. tvScientific built its platform specifically for connected TV, enabling advertisers to connect streaming exposure directly to website visits, application downloads, and purchases through proprietary deterministic identification technology. The platform reaches 95 percent of ad-supported video-on-demand inventory across major streaming services.

Bill Ready, Pinterest's chief executive officer, positioned the combination as solving fundamental measurement limitations that have prevented television from functioning as a true performance channel. "People plan and shop across multiple screens and advertisers need performance solutions that reflect that reality," Ready stated in the announcement. "For the first time, Pinterest advertisers will be able to evaluate TV with the clarity they expect from their performance channels."

Pinterest accumulated substantial intent signals through user behavior patterns spanning 15 billion boards. Users save content representing future purchase considerations, creating predictive data unavailable on traditional social platforms focused on passive consumption rather than active planning. The company's artificial intelligence systems analyze these signals through its Taste Graph technology to deliver personalized recommendations.

Jason Fairchild, tvScientific's chief executive officer, described the transaction as fundamentally changing advertiser expectations for television measurement. "This is the first time a performance CTV engine will come together at scale with an intent-rich visual search platform and it fundamentally changes what marketers can expect from TV," Fairchild stated.

tvScientific operates through self-managed solutions enabling advertisers to pay by outcome rather than impression volumes. The platform incorporates automated media buying, artificial intelligence-powered optimization models, and attribution systems connecting advertisement exposure on television screens to actions taken on mobile devices or desktop computers. Advertisers set cost-per-outcome targets, with the platform automatically adjusting bidding strategies and inventory selection to achieve specified goals.

The technology relies on deterministic identification rather than probabilistic modeling. Connected television devices broadcast consistent IP addresses and utilize household graphs enabling direct connections between streaming exposure and subsequent digital behavior. This deterministic approach provides attribution confidence levels significantly higher than traditional television measurement relying on panel-based extrapolation.

Industry analysts identified the acquisition as part of broader competitive dynamics reshaping performance advertising across connected television. Ari Paparo, founder of Marketecture, characterized the transaction as driven by revenue growth opportunities in expanding categories. "There's a rush to bring non-TV advertisers to TV using programmatic pipes," Paparo wrote on X following the announcement. "The big tech companies reach those long-tail advertisers."

Paparo noted customer acquisition and retention limitations facing independent CTV platforms as potential constraints on organic growth trajectories. He also highlighted consolidation risks from streaming supply, particularly Netflix's vertical integration potentially creating walled garden dynamics disconnected from programmatic infrastructure.

Eric Franchi, an investor whose firm Aperiam Ventures backed tvScientific's 2020 seed funding when the company existed primarily as concept rather than operational platform, described the outcome as validating non-consensus positioning. "Everyone believed CTV's future was brands, not performance," Franchi wrote. "Jason saw it differently and willed that vision into existence."

Pinterest prioritizes United States market development before expanding integration globally. The company's domestic advertising business generated the majority of its $998 million second quarter 2025 revenue, though international markets demonstrated stronger growth rates. Europe grew 34 percent year-over-year while rest-of-world regions expanded 65 percent during the same period.

Connected television advertising budgets have doubled from 14 percent of total media spending in 2023 to 28 percent in 2025, according to industry data tracked across multiple PPC Land reports. This growth created mounting pressure for measurement solutions connecting television exposure to tangible business outcomes beyond traditional brand awareness metrics.

Pinterest launched Performance+ AI-powered advertising suite in October 2024, delivering automated campaign optimization with early results showing 10 percent improvement in cost per acquisition for most advertisers. The system reduces campaign creation time by requiring 50 percent fewer inputs while leveraging machine learning for targeting and budget allocation decisions. Retail advertisers spending on Performance+ campaigns experienced, on average, 24 percent higher conversion lift compared to those spending only on traditional campaigns.

The tvScientific platform will integrate directly into Pinterest Performance+, according to the announcement. This integration enables advertisers to manage streaming television campaigns alongside social, search, and display inventory through unified interfaces rather than separate buying platforms requiring independent optimization and reconciliation.

tvScientific was founded in 2020 as an Idealab company by senior executives with backgrounds in programmatic advertising, digital media, and advertisement verification. The company raised venture capital funding before reaching the acquisition agreement with Pinterest. Headquarters are located in El Segundo, California, with 51-200 employees according to LinkedIn data.

The platform offers measurement capabilities tracking exposure to outcomes rather than intermediate metrics like completion rates or brand lift. Advertisers receive reporting on qualified website visits, application installations, product purchases, and custom conversion events tied directly to streaming advertisement exposure. Attribution windows typically span multiple days, recognizing television's role in awareness and consideration rather than immediate response.

Teads introduced similar deterministic CTV measurement capabilities in October 2025, enabling advertisers to move beyond standard metrics like impressions and completion rates. LG Ad Solutions partnered with Taboola in December 2025 introducing Performance Enhancer connecting premium television exposure with measurable digital outcomes. Paramount and Taboola announced Performance Multiplier in October 2025 designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses measuring connected TV campaign reach across open web properties.

These parallel developments demonstrate industry-wide movement toward performance-driven television measurement rather than traditional reach and frequency planning dominant during linear broadcasting eras. Advertisers increasingly demand accountability connecting media investment to revenue impact, creating opportunities for platforms offering deterministic attribution replacing probabilistic modeling.

Pinterest faces competitive pressure from established players expanding television capabilities. Google's Display & Video 360 increased emphasis on connected television functionality throughout 2025, according to Paparo's analysis. Meta represents the next logical platform pursuing similar integration, though the Facebook parent company has not announced connected television acquisition plans.

Creative adaptation remains challenging across connected television campaigns. Research published in July 2025 revealed that 72 percent of marketers reuse or slightly modify assets across social media and connected TV platforms, while just 25 percent tailor creative for both channels. Connected television proves highly sensitive to creative quality, requiring authentic television-style formats with strong storytelling, high-quality audio, cinematic framing, and larger text elements.

Industry expert Vlad Chubakov identified four critical mistakes marketers make when activating connected television campaigns, including running open-market campaigns without inventory curation, attempting pixel-based measurement on television devices, using web-optimized creative assets, and applying standard digital advertising pacing strategies. These execution challenges persist despite growing budget allocation toward streaming platforms.

Pinterest reached 600 million monthly active users in the third quarter of 2025, with revenue climbing 17 percent year-over-year to $1.049 billion. The platform positioned itself as an artificial intelligence-powered shopping assistant proactively surfacing recommendations as users move from inspiration to action. Generation Z represents over 50 percent of the user base and demonstrates particular affinity for visual search over text-based alternatives.

The company launched multiple advertising products throughout 2025 targeting different shopping journey stages. Top of Search ads, introduced in September, demonstrated 29 percent higher click-through rates compared to standard campaigns. Local inventory advertising enables retailers to display real-time prices for in-stock items within shoppers' local store radius. Where to Buy Links makes standard advertisements instantly shoppable by surfacing multiple in-stock retailer options directly from advertisements.

tvScientific's technology complements these commerce-focused capabilities by extending Pinterest's measurement framework beyond owned properties. Advertisers can potentially connect pins saved on Pinterest boards to subsequent television advertisement exposure, then attribute resulting conversions back through the complete customer journey rather than crediting only the final touchpoint preceding purchase.

The acquisition timeline extends into first half 2026, with regulatory review representing the primary variable affecting closing schedules. Pinterest operates across numerous international markets requiring individual approvals for material acquisitions. The company expects to maintain tvScientific's existing operations during integration planning, preserving client relationships and platform functionality while developing technical integration roadmaps.

Pinterest's strategic positioning emphasizes intent-rich audiences distinguishing the platform from social networks prioritizing engagement and attention. Users arrive seeking specific information about future activities rather than casual content consumption. This planning mindset creates opportunities for advertisers reaching consumers during high-consideration moments when purchase decisions remain fluid but intent signals demonstrate elevated probability of conversion.

The transaction represents Pinterest's first significant acquisition expanding core platform capabilities beyond incremental feature additions or talent acquisitions. Previous investments focused on internal development rather than external technology purchases, reflecting management's confidence in organic innovation. The tvScientific purchase signals recognition that connected television expertise requires specialized infrastructure difficult to replicate through internal engineering alone.

Financial implications remain limited according to Pinterest's assessment. The company maintained its mid-to-high-teens revenue growth targets over medium and long terms despite near-term headwinds in specific segments. Ready highlighted momentum areas including financial services vertical where Pinterest estimates less than half a point market share in a nearly $40 billion United States digital advertising category.

Programmatic access expansion continues across Pinterest properties, with third-party demand complementing auction dynamics when gaps exist. The platform expanded programmatic capabilities through partnerships with Index Exchange and Criteo, marking shifts in advertising strategy. Most efforts with respect to third-party demand have focused on bringing new sources to the platform, as many programmatic budget pools remain new to Pinterest.

Connected television measurement challenges extend beyond technical attribution to encompass brand safety, viewability, and fraud prevention. Research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau released in October 2025 revealed that 73 percent of advertisers view measurement and attribution as top challenges in CTV advertising. Two-thirds of advertisers improved return on ad spend after implementing Conversion APIs for measurement according to the same research.

tvScientific's deterministic identification technology addresses these concerns through household-level tracking maintaining privacy compliance. The platform utilizes IP addresses, cookies, and household graphs drawing straight lines between advertisements shown in living rooms and purchases made on phones. This approach creates attribution confidence unavailable through probabilistic methods relying on statistical modeling rather than direct observation.

The announcement arrives as streaming officially eclipsed combined broadcast and cable television viewership. Nielsen's July 2025 report indicated streaming represented 44.8 percent of TV viewership in May 2025, while broadcast captured 20.1 percent and cable claimed 24.1 percent. More than 85 percent of United States households stream content, creating massive addressable audiences for advertisers willing to navigate fragmented measurement landscape.

Pinterest's acquisition demonstrates platform recognition that omnichannel measurement requires capabilities spanning owned properties and external channels. Users encounter brand messages across multiple screens throughout daily activities, with purchase decisions influenced by cumulative exposure rather than single touchpoints. Advertisers need unified reporting connecting these distributed interactions to revenue outcomes.

The integration roadmap remains undefined pending transaction completion and subsequent planning phases. Pinterest will determine optimal approaches for surfacing connected television inventory within existing campaign management interfaces while maintaining measurement consistency across channels. Technical implementation likely requires substantial engineering investment connecting disparate systems built on different architectural foundations.

tvScientific clients receive continued access to existing platform capabilities throughout the transition period. The company's self-service model enables direct campaign management without requiring sales representative involvement, differentiating the platform from traditional television buying requiring insertion orders and lengthy approval processes. This accessibility attracted mid-market and smaller advertisers previously excluded from television channels due to minimum spending requirements.

The performance television category faces competitive intensity from multiple directions. Independent platforms like Vibe and MNTN pursue similar advertiser segments, while major demand-side platforms including The Trade Desk and Google Display & Video 360 expand connected television functionality. Streaming publishers increasingly develop proprietary advertising technology replacing third-party dependencies, creating vertical integration potentially limiting programmatic access.

Pinterest's scale provides advantages competing against standalone platforms lacking comparable user bases and intent signals. The combination creates differentiated positioning unavailable to performance television platforms operating without integrated discovery properties generating predictive audience data. This uniqueness potentially justifies pricing premiums and attracts advertisers seeking alternatives to search and social channels dominating performance budgets.

Timeline

• 2020: tvScientific founded as Idealab company, backed by Aperiam Ventures seed investment
• 2020: Pinterest launches several advertising products expanding commerce capabilities throughout the year
• September 2024-August 2025: Pinterest derives trend predictions from normalized search queries for 2026 forecasting
• February 2025: Industry data shows 72% of marketers plan to increase programmatic advertising investment
• July 2025: Research reveals 72% of marketers reuse creative assets across social and CTV platforms
• August 2025: Pinterest reports Q2 2025 results with 17% revenue growth to $998 million and 578 million monthly active users
• September 2025: Pinterest launches Top of Search ads achieving 29% higher click-through rates
• October 2025: Teads launches deterministic CTV measurement for streaming campaigns globally
• October 2025: Taboola and Paramount announce Performance Multiplier for small business CTV measurement
• November 2025: Industry expert warns against treating CTV like display campaigns
• November 2025: Pinterest reaches 600 million users in Q3 2025 with 17% revenue growth
• December 3, 2025: LG Ad Solutions and Taboola partner for CTV performance tracking
• December 11, 2025: Pinterest announces definitive agreement to acquire tvScientific
• First half 2026: Expected transaction completion pending regulatory approvals

Summary

Who: Pinterest, a visual discovery platform with 600 million monthly active users, entered a definitive agreement to acquire tvScientific, a connected television advertising platform founded in 2020 with 51-200 employees. Bill Ready serves as Pinterest's chief executive officer, while Jason Fairchild leads tvScientific.

What: The acquisition combines Pinterest's intent-rich audience signals with tvScientific's deterministic attribution technology for connected television advertising. tvScientific's platform will integrate directly into Pinterest Performance+, enabling advertisers to measure how television exposure impacts business outcomes including website visits, application downloads, and purchases. The platform reaches 95 percent of ad-supported video-on-demand inventory through proprietary identification technology.

When: Pinterest announced the definitive agreement on December 11, 2025, with expected transaction completion in the first half of 2026 pending customary regulatory approvals. tvScientific was founded in 2020 and raised venture capital funding before reaching the acquisition agreement.

Where: The transaction affects Pinterest's global operations, though the company prioritizes United States market development before expanding integration internationally. tvScientific operates from headquarters in El Segundo, California. Pinterest is headquartered in San Francisco and serves users across monetized markets worldwide.

Why: The acquisition addresses fundamental measurement limitations preventing television from functioning as a true performance channel. Connected television advertising budgets doubled from 14 percent to 28 percent of total media spending between 2023 and 2025, creating demand for attribution solutions connecting streaming exposure to business outcomes. Pinterest gains capabilities competing against Google and potential Meta television expansion, while tvScientific benefits from Pinterest's scale and intent signals unavailable to independent platforms facing customer acquisition challenges.