Affiliate Links Stripped from Pinterest
According to a Venture Beat report, Pinterest sent a message to power users that from now on it will "automatically remove all affiliate links, redirects and trackers on Pins." As an alternative to creating Pins with affiliate links, Pinterest recommended power users monetize their efforts one of these options:
"Participate in paid social media marketing involving Pinterest, be paid to curate a board or be paid to create original content for a business."
Some Pinterest users expressed their outrage on Twitter:
So #Pinterest is removing all affiliate links from this day forward??? Sounds like a bad decision. Definitely not a good look for #bloggers.
— WhatsHaute (@WhatsHaute) February 12, 2015
Sooooo pinterest doesn't allow affiliate links anymore. Ciao. Bye. I'm done.
— Ria Michelle (@riamichelle) February 13, 2015
This affiliate link ban comes on the heels of Pinterest's new tactics to monetize it's platform and the introduction of the Promoted (paid) Pin. We still find Pinterest to be an effective marketing tool to drive traffic to your website, now you'll just have to pay for promotion.
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