Pinterest Bans Affiliate Links

It’s difficult out there for a blogger to monetize our blogs. Doesn’t it seem the moment we find something that works, the rules change? Such is the case with Pinterest, banning affiliate links last week.

Affiliate links are links that, when a user clicks through via the link and makes a purchase or subscription the referrer (us, the blogger) makes a small commission. Since Pinterest is a viral sharing site, it could add up to substantial income for bloggers.

Although Pinterest claims that this move is in the best interest of users, one can’t help but speculate they want to monetize their paid posts and this is a way to do just that. Pinterest states that bloggers should “participate in paid social media marketing involving Pinterest, be paid to curate a board or be paid to create original content for a business.”