40 replies
This articles says they take your pin, and swap it out with their own affiliate links when possible - seamlessly.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/pi...filiate-links/

maybe not evil - maybe crafty and not quite on the up and up.
#evil #pinterest
  • Profile picture of the author Shoot
    Skimlinks is not replacing links they are just adding links...
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  • Profile picture of the author Ord Allenbea
    They are adding links as stated above, they are not removing or replacing any links. There is nothing wrong with this at all. It is no different than a blog or article directory that has links embeded in your content when you post on those sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author robyna
    Hmmmm...it would be interesting to know. I've been amazed at so many friends who are addicted to this site. I finally signed up a few weeks ago but haven't taken the time to figure it out. Somehow I have a ton of my FB friends following me. I'm afraid they're going to be bored!

    It will be interesting to see where this site is in 6 months or a year. It's certainly not the next Facebook or Twitter but it sure is popular right now. It's a shame if they're a bit of scam.
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    • Probably not a scam, but not transparent either.

      One theory is that they deliberately held back on disclosing the affiliate links so it could be "discovered" and generate a whole new round of buzz for them.

      I don't know and I don't much care. But I am a little bothered at all the people who think lack of transparency is just fine, nothing to see here, move along.

      Disclaimer: I haven't been to the site and have no intention of using it. That's for people who have jobs and can get their employers to pay them for goofing off at work.

      fLufF
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      • Profile picture of the author lisakleinweber
        Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post


        One theory is that they deliberately held back on disclosing the affiliate links so it could be "discovered" and generate a whole new round of buzz for them.


        fLufF
        --
        Honestly, that was one of my thoughts too. Like I said, crafty. they might have a disclosure just a little hidden somewhere that is going to get pointed out after a couple of days.
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

        I am a little bothered at all the people who think lack of transparency is just fine, nothing to see here, move along.
        It's not so much that lack of transparency is fine, but that the amount of transparency you use is entirely up to you. If you want to keep your affiliate link usage on the down-low and only disclose it to people who go looking for it, I don't see that as dishonest or unethical. I personally would be more prominent about my disclosure, but that's my personal preference and shouldn't dictate how you make your decisions in your business.
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        • Profile picture of the author LegitIncomes
          My wife is ALWAYS on Pinterest....haven't paid
          much attention to it myself, other than her
          blabbing on about it, lol. I was wondering how
          they made money though.
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      • Profile picture of the author CreativeFlair
        Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

        Disclaimer: I haven't been to the site and have no intention of using it. That's for people who have jobs and can get their employers to pay them for goofing off at work.
        -
        But you have a Twitter account?
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    • Profile picture of the author Griffin Smith
      Hmmmm...I don't think so. Pinterest is really hot right now
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    The FTC allegedly requires that you disclose an affiliate relationship, which it does not seem that Pinterest is doing. Maybe they are ...haven't looked.

    I doubt that it rises to the level of evil, but it may cause their members to distrust them. They should have had a visible disclosure page about their affiliate links.
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  • Profile picture of the author TiffLee
    ... they gotta make money somehow.

    I have no problem with what they are doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author lisakleinweber
    I personally don't have a problem with what they are doing either, but a disclosure somewhere would have taken all the surprise out of this.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    I don't think that's evil at all - I think it's a smart way to monetize that site.

    Also it's better if people can't put their own affiliate links on there because alls that does is invite a lot of spamming.

    Pinterest can be a really cool resource to drive traffic to your blog and its addicting to use too, I think its great that they can make some money from people clicking the product links on there, but smart marketers will have their links go to their own blogs where they have a review post and, therefore, get the commission from the sale

    Lee
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    Gone Fishing
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  • Profile picture of the author TiffanyLambert
    Someone told me they were replacing our Amazon links with theirs but mine are all still intact and carrying over to Amazon with my associates ID
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    • Profile picture of the author VeronicaD
      Originally Posted by TiffanyDow View Post

      Someone told me they were replacing our Amazon links with theirs but mine are all still intact and carrying over to Amazon with my associates ID
      Same here. I'm active and have affiliate links to Amazon, as well as to my own sites mixed in. This is the first I've heard of this! I went and dug around til I found one of my pins that I linked o Amazon with and my link is still there.
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  • Profile picture of the author lisakleinweber
    I think that some people who are reading about this may think they are replacing our affiliate links, that's what my first impression was. and that would have been really bad. But upon further examination, they seem to be only putting in affiliate links when there isn't one already there. Which isn't horrible.
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  • Profile picture of the author baileybliss
    Pinterest is more addicting than black tar heroin, but from my experience they are not shady or practice black-hat techniques to steal affiliate links. I haven't had any issues with this - all of my links stay put.
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    • Profile picture of the author Media_Mogul
      Originally Posted by JennyBizz View Post

      My name is Jen and I'm addicted to Pinterest.

      Hi, Jen.
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  • Profile picture of the author FreeMeal
    I'm sure there's probably some sort of clever technical way of getting around these things but... I can't help wondering what the deal is with all those copyright images they're displaying? They have a copyright warning page but surely that's not enough?
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    • Profile picture of the author Ord Allenbea
      Yes there is a way around it, don't post affiliate links. I will never fathom why affiliate marketers want to build links to the affiliate program they are pushing instead of building links to their own site first.

      Here is an idea:

      Pinterest --> Your blog / opt-in page --> affiliate link to product


      Originally Posted by FreeMeal View Post

      I'm sure there's probably some sort of clever technical way of getting around these things but...
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  • Profile picture of the author HarrieB
    Pinterest is garnering more headlines nowadays and has more visitors as compared to Google plus!!

    Atlease a backlink from Pinterest to your website can really push your page rank, as it has done to my website
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  • Profile picture of the author Rashell
    Originally Posted by Ord Allenbea View Post

    Yes there is a way around it, don't post affiliate links. I will never fathom why affiliate marketers want to build links to the affiliate program they are pushing instead of building links to their own site first.

    Here is an idea:

    Pinterest --> Your blog / opt-in page --> affiliate link to product
    Pinterest/Skimlinks aren't swapping links from products which already have an affiliate link. They're replacing non-affiliated links with their affiliate links. Basically "earning" commissions from the products shared by people who aren't actively monetizing their "pins"

    Originally Posted by swordmaster View Post

    Prepare for someone putting up the next new product "How to make money with Pinterest", ranging from $5.00 to $9.00, with some OTO's. :-)
    It's already begun...

    Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

    Disclaimer: I haven't been to the site and have no intention of using it. That's for people who have jobs and can get their employers to pay them for goofing off at work.
    --
    It's not so much about "using" the site for "goofing off" as being able to watch how people interact with content. With Pinterest you can see what posts have been pinned from a site. Plus what other posts from that site have been pinned/repinned vs. those which were not. How often each of these posts have been pinned/repinned. What people have said about the item of interest. Etc.

    As you begin to understand the Pinterest culture, you can more easily adapt your content creation specifically for the "viral" aspects of Pinterest.

    It's a matter of getting over there and watching the way things move.

    Rashell
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    • Profile picture of the author Ord Allenbea
      I understand that and this is no different than an article directory that does the same thing. ArticlesBase.com used to do it, not sure if they still do because I do not waste my valuable time posting on the site.

      Point is though you should not be using affiliate links anyways. Those that are using them are missing out big time on traffic and possible opt-ins.

      Originally Posted by Rashell View Post

      Pinterest/Skimlinks aren't swapping links from products which already have an affiliate link. They're replacing non-affiliated links with their affiliate links. Basically "earning" commissions from the products shared by people who aren't actively monetizing their "pins"



      It's already begun...



      It's not so much about "using" the site for "goofing off" as being able to watch how people interact with content. With Pinterest you can see what posts have been pinned from a site. Plus what other posts from that site have been pinned/repinned vs. those which were not. How often each of these posts have been pinned/repinned. What people have said about the item of interest. Etc.

      As you begin to understand the Pinterest culture, you can more easily adapt your content creation specifically for the "viral" aspects of Pinterest.

      It's a matter of getting over there and watching the way things move.

      Rashell
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      • Profile picture of the author Rashell
        Originally Posted by Ord Allenbea View Post

        I understand that and this is no different than an article directory that does the same thing. ArticlesBase.com used to do it, not sure if they still do because I do not waste my valuable time posting on the site.

        Point is though you should not be using affiliate links anyways. Those that are using them are missing out big time on traffic and possible opt-ins.

        That's one of those things I'd probably test before I assumed.

        With Pinterest you see an image in the general feed, click on it, get taken to a "pin" page and have to click on it again to go to the website. Of course I'll only go through all that if I'm interested in the details of a product/topic.

        What you're suggesting is to add another click to the process before I can really get to what I'm interested in. Perhaps if I'm going to buy a more expensive item I'll want to do research before a purchase. But, if it's a simple purchase all those clicks become tedious.

        Plus, if you're using an affiliate link to a site like Amazon it could be more beneficial to play the click through/drop cookie #s game than to worry about optins, etc.

        Rashell
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        • Profile picture of the author Ord Allenbea
          I have tested exactly what I posted for years and adding another "click" to the process is how proper affiliate marketing is done. I should know I ran 2 large affiliate programs as the affiliate manager for 2 large companies.

          If you place your affiliate link on a site you get "one" chance at that sale. If you link to your own site with valuable information and get them on an opt-in you have unlimited chances. There is a huge difference here and this is one reason why many affiliates never make a decent income.

          Instead of trying to sell to your readers you should be engaging with them through magnetic content. Attracting and engaging will benefit your more than trying to distract and sell.

          Originally Posted by Rashell View Post

          That's one of those things I'd probably test before I assumed.

          With Pinterest you see an image in the general feed, click on it, get taken to a "pin" page and have to click on it again to go to the website. Of course I'll only go through all that if I'm interested in the details of a product/topic.

          What you're suggesting is to add another click to the process before I can really get to what I'm interested in. Perhaps if I'm going to buy a more expensive item I'll want to do research before a purchase. But, if it's a simple purchase all those clicks become tedious.

          Plus, if you're using an affiliate link to a site like Amazon it could be more beneficial to play the click through/drop cookie #s game than to worry about optins, etc.

          Rashell
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          • Profile picture of the author akif
            No. Pinterest is fine.
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            No Links

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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Desi
    Nah...not evil. They might want to tell users this so they build trust (like the article suggests). I got invited to use it but haven't figured it out quite yet.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    lol. Just checked it out.

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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Huggins
    seems kinda backdoor production almost like they are only working off of others success. IMO

    (nothing wrong with that of course but as an affiliate I must let people know I sell others products, so letting people know would have been good)
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  • Profile picture of the author ActA
    I never heard anything like this
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  • Profile picture of the author simpleleveraging
    I think perhaps a bit more clarity and transparency might have helped but nothing untowards it would appear.
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  • Profile picture of the author nrg2011
    They are still a pretty new venture, and changing as they go.
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  • Profile picture of the author valmillercorl
    No they're not evil. They are actually quite brilliant because they are an entirely new social platform than FB or Twitter. It's all about the "visiualization"!

    Val
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  • Profile picture of the author birddog200
    Well you have certainly peeked my interest. I will have to go take a look at this place and see how I can monetize it.
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  • Profile picture of the author fpdeziner
    I was hooked on Pinterest for a while. Then it started acting up so that I couldn't pin things for a long time. So I think it is expertly unhooked me.
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  • Profile picture of the author ExpertSEOServices
    Not sure about them taking your pin and swapping it. This sounds a bit dodgey. In terms of it being evil yes its very very addictive! lol
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