Introducing the Today tab for daily inspiration

Pinners are planners and come to Pinterest for ideas as they look forward to what’s next in their lives. We’re all going through some uncertain times where planning for the future might look a little different these days. More than ever, people are looking for ideas for activities to do at home — cooking quickly and easily, crafts and lesson plans for kids, tips for growing vegetables, and more. 

Globally, Pinterest hit all-time highs in engagement this past week. Searches were up nearly 55% year on year, with new signups and Saves up about 30% each. In the UK, searches increased 35% YoY and boards created increased 28% YoY. Since March 1st, searches have increased by nearly 25% globally. Video continues to be one of the favorite formats for Pinners, and views on video pins have nearly tripled compared to the same time last year.

In response, we fast-tracked the launch of the Today tab, a new source of daily inspiration with curated topics and trending Pins. We’re featuring expert information from the NHS, the World Health Organisation and Centers for Disease Control on topics like handwashing during the coronavirus epidemic over the following weeks. In addition, we’re also showing kid-friendly baking ideas, self-care tips, family-favourite movies and comfort food recipes based on trending Pins from what others are saving.

Just click “Today” at the top of your home feed from your iOS or Android app for new ideas each day. Recommendations will include a handful of topics. 

We’ll start with ideas curated by the Pinterest team and in the future will also feature guest editors. While the home feed continues to show personalised recommendations, the Today tab will show popular ideas based on what's going on in the world and trending searches.

Making emotional well-being activities more available

In the past few weeks, searches for “calming quotes” doubled and “stress relief” and "stress quotes" have tripled, and so we’ve also launched compassionate search on web, to make the mental wellness feature available on all platforms. That means when you search for terms like “stress relief” from your desktop computer or phone, you’ll see the options to check out a collection of emotional wellbeing activities to help relax and feel better with content from emotional health experts.

These are just a few pieces of our efforts to make reliable, inspirational and helpful information easily accessible on Pinterest, in addition to:

• A custom search experience featuring results from experts
• Prohibiting ads that claim to offer cures or treatments or that are looking to exploit the crisis
• A banner across the site that directs to NHS and WHO facts
• An easy way to report health misinformation through the "health misinformation" option on Pins. We're removing any misinformation we find about COVID-19 because it violates our health misinformation policy (which has been in place since 2017).
• A Stay safe, stay inspired board shared with Pinners
• A curation of helpful COVID-19 related information featured globally 

The Today tab on mobile apps is now available in the U.S. and the U.K. and is expanding to 13 new countries: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Switzerland. Compassionate search is available in the U.S. and U.K., with more countries to come.