Pinterest wants to be the search engine that helps people find things that they didn’t even know they were looking for. Two months ago, the company rolled out Guided Search on mobile devices and billed it as a revolutionary way for its users to consume and browse Pinterest, which CEO Ben Silbermann called the “world’s […]
Pinterest wants to be the search engine that helps people find things that they didn’t even know they were looking for. Two months ago, the company rolled out Guided Search on mobile devices and billed it as a revolutionary way for its users to consume and browse Pinterest, which CEO Ben Silbermann called the “world’s largest human created collection of things.”
The initial rollout was mobile focused because 75% of Pinterest usage is on phones and tablets. Today, Pinterest announced that it will push Guided Search to the desktop for English users during the next few weeks.
The main difference between Pinterest’s Guided Search and standard search engine results is that users are served category suggestions as they explore. So when Pinterest users look for BBQ chicken recipes, they are served a carousel of options –baked, crockpot, grilled, marinade, wings, etc. — that they can click into. It’s search aided by the curation of Pinterest’s dedicated users, who as of late April had created 750 million Pin boards and 30 billion Pins.
The new desktop interface also puts the search dialogue box in a more prominent position, moving it from the top left to the center of the page.
