Not with their annoying interstitial it won't. And pinterest isn't great for finding images of things that aren't "products".
This is my main gripe with Pinterest: the hostile and intrusive block on viewing the site unless you register first. This wasn't always the case. I'm guessing the permanent prompt to register turns many users away (I'm sure they're tracking this this to see how it's faring).
And pinterest isn't great for finding images of things that aren't "products".
Pinterest is a great resource for finding visual design inspiration, not just products. You'll find plenty of design examples no matter how broad or narrow your search: typography, graphic design, illustration, web design, mobile app design, book covers, comic book design, calligraphy, geometric patterns, packaging design, paper sculpture, origami - the list is endless. In fact, the site deliberately overwhelms you with related pins and pages that scroll forever to keep you browsing as long as possible.
If you are a designer or developer creating a web site or a mobile app, then you are missing out on lots of visual inspiration if you don't use Pinterest.
As long as I'm forced to make an account to see anything this will absolutely not happen.
if they were serious about beating google images, i think they would do it.
Do people really click ads and buy? Is there data of the whole from click to the buy revenue? Are your products US centric? If yes what part of the US do people click on your ads and buy the most?
2) as much as any old ad platform. conversion tracking is pretty simplistic on pinterest but it exists.
3) yes, but keep in mind pinterest doesn't let you target outside of US using their self-serve ads
4) the distribution is fairly normal compared to other platforms. i have not looked for pinterest specific outliers.
the review process is much more careful than facebook or google. they only really want content that would make sense organically on pinterest.
facebook and google are pretty loose about the "salesy-ness" of ads, but pinterest is pretty strict in comparison.
obviously with all these restrictions, agencies don't like it because they have to cater their message to pinterest instead copy and pasting the same noise on every platform.
pinterest probably won't kill google proper, but I could easily see pinterest killing google images.
When is the last time a company seriously decided to take on image search at google scale? Google doesn't even show ads in it's image search.
another reason agencies probably don't like pinterest is the high fixed-floor bids of 10 cents.
you could have lower effective cpcs, but your ads actually have to be engaging, and they have to get repins and shares.
bottom line: Pinterest simply demands more effort from advertisers, and they're pretty picky. Consequently, users don't mind their ads as much.
The best case scenario for pinterest's investors (in my mind) is an acquisition by facebook as part of a strategy to take on the web search market.