Pinterest has just dropped a new beta feature of its phone app, ‘Lens’. The app allows you to take a photo of an image and see if there are similar images on Pinterest to let you know what it is! It appears to be similar to doing a Google Image Search but doing it via an app instead of copy and pasting an image into the Google search bar.
They describe the new app feature as follows:
Just point Lens at a pair of shoes, then tap to see related styles or even ideas for what else to wear them with. Or try it on a table to find similar designs, and even other furniture from the same era. You can also use Lens with food. Just point it at broccoli or a pomegranate to see what recipes come up. Patterns and colors can also lead you in fun, interesting or even just plain weird new directions.
For now, Lens works best for finding home decor ideas, things to wear and food to eat. As more and more people give it a try, and we continue making improvements to our technology, results will get even better, and the range of objects Lens recognizes will get increasingly wider.
Eventually anything you see when you’re out and about can kick off a search for ideas to try. Just pull out your phone and see what Lens turns up.
You can also do the same thing on Pinterest itself… if you see an image of something you like, click on the circle and see related images:
Lastly, with their ‘Shop the Look’ feature, you can easily find the item you see online and purchase it!
This may end up being a great play for affiliate marketers either on a PPC basis or by getting the right images in searches and linking to stores via their affiliate links (some of you may remember affiliate links were banned in the past… they are now fine to use!)