Pinterest introduced a new feature last week called Guided Search. This enhancement makes it easier for users to find content on the popular, image driven social network. The new search algorithm takes into account the words used by its millions of users to described saved images and then curates that information into dynamic categories to return search results. Currently, Guided Search is available only to mobile users.
Pinterest team member Hui Xu, Head of the Discovery Team, explained, “Now when you search for something (road trips, running, summer BBQ), descriptive guides will help you sift through all the good ideas from other Pinners. Scroll through the guides and tap any that look interesting to steer your search in the right direction.”
8 Steps to Using Pinterest Guided Search
- Download or Update Your Mobile App
- Tap the magnifying glass search icon
- Type in something you’re looking for in the search field at the top of the screen
- Choose “pins” or “just my pins”
- Suggestions to refine the search query will appear underneath the search field
- Tap any of the guides to narrow down your search
- Pinterest allows you to select up to three guides. After that, the guides will disappear. The guides reappear if you deselect any of the terms in the search field.
- Users can also type in additional search terms into the search field to add their own guides
With the new search tool, “categories aren’t curated by Pinterest, in other words. They’re curated by the millions of people who pin and re-pin on the site–in some sense unknowingly so,” reported Wired Magazine.
Guided Search is only available on mobile devices via the Pinterest iOS and Android apps. Users must update their mobile apps to take advantage of Guided Search.
