Pinterest is (almost) at half a billion users – so what now? With EMEA chief Milka Privodanova

Milka Privodanova, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Pinterest, joins Omar Oakes to talk about the next step in the picture-sharing platform's journey as it reaches nearly 500m users and progresses ecommerce deals with Amazon and Google.

Privodanova, who was known as Milka Kramer before announcing her name change in The Media Leader two years ago, is clear about how Pinterest can succeed as an ecommerce enabler while avoiding the "toxicity" that has plagued social media. She insists its user base is much wider than "housewives and mothers" and is proud of a significant Gen Z cohort that advertisers crave.

She is also candid about ad load and responds to questions about why Pinterest's shares declined in response to its recent earnings report, why the company shedded 5% of its workforce last year and, of course, why she is passionate about media.

Privodanova says: "When you look at explicit signals, which people are telling you what they like, so they're telling you what they pin, what they save, what they search for… the type of content that comes on top, it's like 'How do I make a dinner tonight for my family?', 'What do I wear?' – it's that more positive content. Throughout our history, as a company, we have had industry-leading initiatives around mental wellbeing and really preventing toxicity from coming on to the platform."

Highlights

1:46 Pinterest's Q4 earnings, digital media market trends in 2024 and partnerships with Amazon and Google

6:41 Pinterest's appeal to Gen Z and efforts to maintain a positive platform

11:54 Growing business through user retention and international markets

15:43 AI, ad load and partnerships in the digital advertising industry

21:10 Pinterest's growth, audience and advertising

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This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.

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