Have you noticed these new modules popping up in your Pinterest feed?
Pinterest recently added these full width module types in stream, in order to encourage different types of feed engagement, by highlighting related topics and/or other elements of interest for Pinners.
And over on the Pinterest Engineering blog, it’s outlined how these new modules work, and how they help drive more engagement with Pins.
First off, Pinterest outlined its two types of modules, and their intended purpose:
- Landing page modules: In this type of modules, tapping on the module takes the user to a separate landing page with Pins the user can interact with.
- Carousel modules: This type of module is a collection of Pins in the horizontal shelf on the feed that are shown to the user.
The idea is that this will help broaden users’ perspective on different Pin ideas, while Pinterest has also developed a new system to ensure that these modules don’t detract from other engaging Pin suggestions in-stream.
How? Well, primarily, by only showing the modules to users who’ve shown some interest in them, and removing them for those who haven’t.
As per Pinterest:
“If a particular user has seen a particular module many times without interacting with it, we temporarily stop showing that module to that user. We achieved this by running a daily workflow that aggregates each user’s historical module engagement with a focus on the number of impressions since the user’s last click on the module. If, over the past n days, the number of impressions without a click was above some threshold k, then that module would be hidden for that user for d days.”
So if you don’t engage with the module, it won’t be shown to you for a period of time.
Pinterest has also outlined how it maps out its module display, and the variable approach it takes to such based on user engagement.
“Our initial approach placed ordered modules in static fixed slots within the feed (such as 15, 35, 55, 75), regardless of the surrounding Pins. This could cannibalize Homefeed user engagement by potentially replacing a highly engaging Pin with a Module. To address this, our ‘skip slot’ approach dynamically blends Pins and Modules, ensuring a Module only replaces a Pin if its predicted engagement is higher.”
It’s another addition to the Pin feed, which could provide more considerations for users to engage with different Pins, in different ways. Which is worth noting for marketers, in understanding how the platform looks to drive related engagement, and how its Pin recommendations work in practice.
You can read more about Pinterest’s new feed module display here.
