Skip to content

Developer Platform

Search docs & API
Log in
Sign up

Understand conversions and how to track them

Conversions are actions that people take on your website after viewing your ad on Pinterest.
Tracking these actions helps you measure your return on ad spend (RoAS), create target audiences, and improve ad campaign performance.

How tracking tools map to ingestion sources

Because your ads engage your customers in different ways, Pinterest provides conversion tracking tools for different platforms and ingestion sources:
Conversion platforms and ingestion sources
PlatformIngestion source method
App
Conversions API
or
Mobile measurement partner (MMP) integrations.
See a list of MMPs in this help article on third-party integrations.
Offline
Conversion API
or
upload
Web
Conversions API
and/or
Pinterest Tag
See How Conversions API and Pinterest Tag work.
Use this guide to track conversion events using the Conversions API.

How Conversions API and Pinterest Tag work

In this site, we provide guidance for using Conversions API and Pinterest Tag.
You can use either ingestion method independently of the other; however, we recommend that you use both to ensure maximum event coverage, eliminating any data gaps that may occur from using one method only.
See how these ingestion methods work:
Conversions API and Pinterest Tag comparison
MethodHow it worksBenefitsLimitations
Conversions API
Your server sends conversion events directly to the Pinterest server.
Can ingest all the same event data as the tag, and more:
  • First-party user identifiers, such as hashed email, phone, external IDs
  • Server-side timestamps
  • Order and product details
  • Custom parameters
Not blocked by browsers or ad blockers.
Can include data not available in the browser, such as CRM data, offline conversions.
Requires backend integration and data privacy compliance, such as hashing and user consent.
Pinterest Tag
JavaScript code snippets run in the user's browser when they visit your site.
Automatically collects page URL, referrer, device/browser info, IP address, timestamp, and Pinterest cookies (if present).
You can send custom event data, such as order value, product ID, and user email/phone in hashed form.
Ad blockers and browser privacy settings can block or limit data collection.
User consent (GDPR/CCPA) may restrict what you can collect.
Tag relies on cookies for user identification and attribution.

Preventing duplication

One potential downside to using the API and Tag together is the possibility that the same event may come from both sources—event duplication. This can distort your conversion analysis and reporting.
Learn how to prevent duplication.

What are conversion events?

See the following table to understand what happens in each event and which operations it is used for.
Conversion event types
Name in APIName in TagPurposeUsable for
add_payment_info
AddPaymentInfo
Track people who enter payment information, such as a credit card number.
Conversion reporting
add_to_cart
AddToCart
Track people who add items to shopping carts.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
add_to_wishlist
AddToWishList
Track people who add a viewed item to a wish list.
Conversion reporting
app_install
N/A
Track people who install your app for the first time, or the first time an app starts on a device.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
app_open
N/A
Track people each time they open your app after they access it for the first time.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
checkout
Checkout
Track people who complete transactions.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
contact
Contact
Track people who contact you through phone, email, chat or other methods.
Audience creation
customize_product
CustomizeProduct
Track people who customize a product using a tool on your website or app.
Audience creation
find_location
FindLocation
Track people who find your business location through web or app.
Audience creation
initiate_checkout
InitiateCheckout
Track people who start the process of checking out an item for purchase but do not complete it.
Conversion reporting
lead
Lead
Track people who show interest in your product or service.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
page_visit
PageVisit
Track people who view primary pages, such as product pages and article pages.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
schedule
Schedule
Track people who schedule an appointment at one of your business locations.
Audience creation
search
Search
Track people who search for products or services you offer.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
signup
SignUp
Track people who sign up for your product or service.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
start_trial
StartTrial
Track people who start a free trial of a product or service.
Audience creation
submit_application
SubmitApplication
Track people who complete and submit an application for a product, service, or program.
Audience creation
subscribe
Subscribe
Track people who subscribe to receive information and updates related to products or services.
Conversion reporting
view_category
ViewCategory
Track people who view category pages.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
view_content
ViewContent
Track people who view site content.
Conversion reporting
watch_video
WatchVideo
Track people who watch videos.
Audience creation
Conversion reporting
Custom event that you name
Custom event that you name
Track an event that does not conform to any of the Pinterest-defined types.
You give this event a unique name that is meaningful to your business.
Create the name with any upper- or lower-case letters (treated as case insensitive), numerals 0 through 9, underscores
_
, and hyphens
-
.
Limit the name to 100 characters.
Example:
TookSurvey
Make sure to map any custom event to a Pinterest standard event.
Audience creation
Was this page helpful?