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Is Pinterest traffic allowed by Google and Amazon?

by Manoj V
11 replies
I've been seeing a lot of interest in getting Pinterest traffic for websites and noticed the keenness for driving traffic to Amazon affiliate sites. I don't know whether anyone knows the answer to these questions:

1. Does Amazon permit the use of it's product images to be used on Pinterest?
2. Does Amazon permit traffic from Pinterest?
3. Will Google sit back and watch when they see a sudden surge in traffic to your site and find that it's coming from Pinterest as a result of pictures that you pinned on Pinterest boards that may or may not be related to your blog?
4. Does Pinterest permit putting up pictures from your website for driving traffic for the purpose of increasing clicks/sales?

Here is what Pinterest states in its Acceptable Use Policy: (Pinterest / Acceptable Use Policy)

"You agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities...

- Use the Service for any commercial purpose or the benefit of any third party, except as otherwise explicitly permitted for you by Pinterest or in any manner not permitted by the Terms."

In the context of the statement above, pinning pictures from your blog or website for driving traffic for clicks, sales or lead gen may be considered a commercial activity or spamming. It may be worth remembering at this time that Google and Amazon have always shut down accounts for using sources of traffic that are not permitted by them or are considered spam by members of the internet community.
#allowed #amazon #google #pinterest #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author robyna
    This is an interesting question because I know that IMers are doing it like crazy. I've not heard of anyone getting in trouble for it...yet. I've read reports of Pinterest actually changing Amazon links to their own affiliate links so they're getting the commission. :confused: There are other ways you can use Pinterest for marketing even if this form is not acceptable.
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  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    I was under the impression that Pinterest rewrites all affiliate links to its own.
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  • Profile picture of the author piermichel
    Well i'm not sure about the answer , but that was a very brilliant question. Hoping for the answer to be a YES
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  • Profile picture of the author Eleanor
    Pinterest don't re-write affiliate links to their own - they overwrite ordinary (non-affiliate) links into their own affiliate links.

    It's an interesting point though - if it's in their terms that using their site for commercial purposes is not ok then chances are that eventually they will start being more strict. I think because they are still quite new they are just dealing with the chaos of the buzz and once they have a handle on things they will start to clamp down on spamming etc.

    However, if you are posting decent content on your site and are pinning the images for others to see and share (which is the whole point of Pinterest) then I can't see what's wrong with that.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I think people who use Amazon links on Pinterest will eventually find their Amazon accounts banned and no payment forthcoming for Pinterest traffic.

    THE PROBLEM FOR AMAZON

    Social media spamming also presents a problem for established e-commerce sites. The Pinterest spammer has one crucial cog in his scam: he is abusing the Amazon Affiliate program, described succinctly by Amazon:

    “When website owners and bloggers who are Associates create links and customers click through those links and buy products from Amazon.ca, they earn referral fees.”

    Many of the fake Pinterest accounts Daily Dot discovered use an Amazon Affiliate Associate account named final-fantas07.

    Amazon’s affiliate program has terms of service, and artificially increasing search ranks is one way to violate those rules, so this spammer could very well be defrauding the e-tailing giant.

    The Associates Program Operating Agreement’s section on advertising fees specifies that the program will not pay fees to people who drive shoppers to Amazon using “a link … that is generated or displayed on a Search Engine in response to a general Internet search query or keyword”.

    While Pinterest is not a search engine, and there is no specific reference to social networking referrals, Amazon has described a “search engine” quite broadly, to include not just Google, Yahoo and Bing, but also “any other … portal, sponsored advertising service, or other search or referral service, or any site that participates in any of their respective networks.”

    Pinterest might object to being called a mere referral service, but while the site is broader than simple product lust – the Obama campaign now has a board – a large part of the network revolves around just this type of referral shopping.

    Amazon’s requirements also ban the use of “a robot or software program” to “artificially generate clicks or impressions”.
    Social networking site Pinterest in battle against spammers - The Globe and Mail
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  • Profile picture of the author Tjalling
    As far as I know (after reading a lot of pinterest marketing articles), you won't get in trouble doing any of the things you are worried about.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I dont think Google and Amazon allows anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author Manoj V
    It's only a matter of time before Google and Amazon take steps to prevent Pinterest being used with duplicate accounts and software to increase sales or clicks.
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    • Profile picture of the author ebuyer123
      Originally Posted by Max P View Post

      It's only a matter of time before Google and Amazon take steps to prevent Pinterest being used with duplicate accounts and software to increase sales or clicks.
      By then some of these people (fast movers) have already made a couple hundreds of thousand dollars (or even millions of dollar$).
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  • Profile picture of the author Social Media
    @Max
    It has already been started quite for a long time...

    P.S: I'm not one of them....:s
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  • Profile picture of the author Manoj V
    I came across an interesting article here - Daily Dot | A Pinterest spammer tells all

    What I found interesting is a spammer's bold statement:

    "Pinterest is by FAR the easiest social network to spam right now. Quite possibly the easiest ever to spam. It requires almost no work to get started and no money to invest. You just have to know how the system works and how you can fix it to your advantage."

    Pinterest has been termed as the easiest spam target on the internet! It will soon follow Facebook and Twitter and make it increasingly difficult for internet marketers to operate on the site.
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