Pinterest launches new visual search tool
Pinterest has worked hard to innovate its platform to become a formidable digital advertising player. Chris Tuff, EVP and Director at 22Squared, called Pinterest's transformation the "most evolution of any platform," and compared it to Facebook, which took four and a half years to develop the same sophisticated ad tools Pinterest has. On Monday, Pinterest launched a new search feature, which uses photos to crawl through millions of product images, previously, users have only been able to search for products via text. This supports Pinterest's expansion into the search rather than social network space. While Pinterest has yet to mention, it seems likely that visual ads will become incorporated in future.

Pinterest is getting serious about becoming a formidable digital advertising player, and agency executives are taking notice.

"What Pinterest has accomplished in the last nine months is the most evolution of any platform," said Chris Tuff, evp and director of business development and partnerships at 22Squared. For comparison, Tuff said it took Facebook four and a half years to build the same kind of sophisticated ad tools that Pinterest is pitching.

On Monday, the site launched a search feature that uses photos to comb through millions of product images.