---
title: "VentureBeat: Pinterest Passes 150 Million Monthly Active Users, Up From 100 Million a Year Ago"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/9bbb919a-9620-4df7-b20b-6d921500e4e5
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/venturebeat-pinterest-passes-150-million-monthly-active-users-up-from-100-million-a-year-ago-6528
category: "Technology"
topics: ["Technology"]
published: 2016-10-14T19:14:57.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:14:43.222Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/29a914ee491513c8c00bdcb6256512765444.jpg
---

# VentureBeat: Pinterest Passes 150 Million Monthly Active Users, Up From 100 Million a Year Ago

**TL;DR:** Pinterest has announced a 50% increase in monthly active users, reaching 150 million, with a significant increase in users outside of the U.S. The company's CEO, Ben Silbermann, attributes the growth to updates such as a shopping bag, improved visual search, and trending topics.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2016-10-14. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/venturebeat-pinterest-passes-150-million-monthly-active-users-up-from-100-million-a-year-ago-6528).*

## Story

Pinterest announced that more than 150 million people are now using the visual bookmarking and ideas service, with more than 75 billion “ideas” being shared, according to a recent VentureBeat article.

The company first revealed its usage numbers one year ago when they had 100 million monthly active users, showing a 50 percent increase this year. A large part of that increase comes from users that are outside of the U.S., according to the social network’s chief executive Ben Silbermann. The gender breakdown of users has slightly shifted, as the men now make up 40 percent of users, a 70 percent increase.

Compared to Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest’s MAU numbers may not seem like a lot. Though the brand’s CEO sees Pinterest as a different type of tool. “Pinterest is more of a personal tool, not a social one. People don’t really come here to see what their friends are doing…Instead, they come to Pinterest to find ideas to try, figure out which ones they love, and learn a little bit about themselves in the process,” says Silbermann.

The company has made a number of updates to the tool this year that have helped with its growth. The brand has rolled out a shopping bag, built out its engineering team, improved visual search, and debuted trending topics.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- General (sector)
- Facebook (company)
- Twitter (company)
- social media (topic)
- Pinterest (company)
- user growth (topic)
- technology updates (topic)
- monthly active users (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/venturebeat-pinterest-passes-150-million-monthly-active-users-up-from-100-million-a-year-ago-6528). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/9bbb919a-9620-4df7-b20b-6d921500e4e5).