Pinterest is rolling out three new products today which will allow you to highlight certain elements in the picture, viewed live through your camera or a usual image search, and then initiate a fresh web search related to that element.
Pinterest has returned time and again with several unique ideas about images. Every time a viewer sees an image, a variety of thoughts run through his mind. Pinterest has always been interested in bridging the gaps between those thoughts and the initial image and its latest in-image search features are some key steps towards its quest.
Pinterest co-founder and chief product officer Evan Sharp says:
Early information technology used words to connect ideas, like hyperlinks. Search engines we built today have drafted on that, they rely on words to get you answers to your questions. But when it comes to searching for ideas, words aren’t the right way. Sometimes you don’t really know what you’re looking for until you see it.
Okay, so lets discuss each of these products separately. And the first up is Lens. Pinterest’s lens feature allows the user to point his camera towards any object, and it picks that up instantly- be it food, wearables, animals or geometric patterns. User can then initiate an Internet search related to that product. Today, Lens launches in beta for iOS with an Android roll out expected later.
The feature is critical for conditions where a person is willing to make an impulse purchase. When one views an object in the real world and decides to but it for himself, it is rather difficult to retain in in the mind. Pinterest’s Lens allows you to instantly search for that object on web and then place an order for the same.
They are also working on their visual search feature for isolating each product within an image. Wont that be awesome when you are searching for a pin with a nice t-shirt and the feature allows you to pick up a hat featured in the frame, and initiate a search for that as well. So basically, this improved feature will allow you to jump to other products present in the picture you are looking at.
Next up is ‘Instant Ideas’ that puts a small circle below each pin allowing them to pop directly into the related items and gather more info regarding the product. Visual searches are the specialty of Pinterest, and that is what makes it different from any other platform. It provides its 150 million regular audience with some amazing image ideas which they could never have thought of.
However, some of its features are being adapted in different other services. In a step to prove its dominance on the visual search market, it is bringing its three new products, which will hopefully prove beneficial for it.
The three new feature could act as a huge potential revenue stream for Pinterest. It is so because Pinterest regularly engages itself with viewers looking out for new ideas and products — or even those who have an idea but are looking for a product with similar specifications. The new features could provide users with a wide range of advertising products which help them during different phases of shopping.
Pinterest co-founder an CEO Ben Silbermann said:
These three new products make anything in the world an entry point to the 100 billion ideas in Pinterest. Together they create a whole new discovery experience that’s unlike anything that’s out there today. You can get ideas whether you’re opening the app or walking through town. The more people the use it, the better the results become, the more we can recommend inspiring ideas.
