Pinterest has made a small update to their search engine feature; making it easier for its users to search for pins and other users with more streamlined suggestions. While these updates are small, they help bring Pinterest closer to becoming a more powerful search engine, like Google and Facebook.
When you begin to start typing into Pinterest’s search box, the most closely related suggestions will begin to surface.
According to the Pinterest Blog,
Notable people and brands are marked with a check mark, so if you’re looking for celebrity chef Alton Brown, you can find Pins of his recipes or follow Alton himself to keep up with his latest Pins.
This check mark resembles the verified accounts you view on Twitter. After you have tapped into the search results, you can use the new filter button to navigate between seeing pins, boards, your pins, your boards and other users, or pinners. Much like Twitter, you can now, also see, what is trending on Pinterest (Currently available in the U.S. only).
Pinterest search has become wiser in a sense, that it will do its best to arbitrate spelling errors with you, to help decipher what it is that you are actually searching for. According to Pinterest, “About 12% of all searches on Pinterest include a spelling error, which can make for some disappointing results.” This new update will recommend what they think you may have been looking for, in spite of mistakenly thumbed in spelling errors!
While search engines like Google, have traditionally relied on keywords for search inquiries, Pinterest’s new guided search, suggests filters that provide a search flow of general ideas revolving around the keyword or phrase. For example, if a user searches for home phones, Google will likely direct its search to rotary and cordless models; whereas, Pinterest search will direct the search to incorporate cell phones and vintage models.
Pinners and businesses may see an increase in their Pinterest following with this new user functionality. Over two times as many searchers are finding the brands, boards and people they are searching for, according to early testing of these improvements.