Aug 7 (Reuters) - Pinterest ( PINS ) beat analysts'

estimates for second-quarter revenue on Thursday, as increased

marketing spend on the platform was fueled by its artificial

intelligence-powered advertising tools.

The social media platform's rapid growth among Gen Z

users-who now represent more than half of its user base-combined

with the AI-powered tools for personalized and automated

campaigns, has made the platform attractive to advertisers.

Pinterest's ( PINS ) results follow Meta and Reddit's ( RDDT )

strong second quarter performance last week. In

contrast, Snap reported its slowest quarterly revenue

growth in over a year.

The company's focus on direct-response ads, designed to

prompt specific actions like shopping, app downloads, or website

visits, continued to drive ad demand.

"We've found our best product market fit ever by becoming a

personalized shopping destination for users and an AI-powered

performance platform for advertisers," CEO Bill Ready said in a

statement.

Pinterest ( PINS ) has third-party ad deals with Google,

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and advertising platform Magnite ( MGNI ).

Revenue for the second-quarter grew 17% to $998.2 million,

beating analysts' average estimate of $974.8 million, according

to data compiled by LSEG.

Global monthly active users on the platform rose 11% to 578

million, exceeding estimates of 553 million.

Pinterest ( PINS ) expects third quarter revenue to be between

$1.03 billion and $1.05 billion, compared with estimates of

$1.03 billion.