Recently, some of my blogging friends expressed alarm over change in the terms of service at Pinterest. Honestly, I am not sure when the terms were upgraded but I am assuming it was in the last few months… just prior to the announcement of promoted pins.
Should you have a business account?
The terms used to only state that if you were being paid to pin to an account, that account had to be classified as a business account. That created a large loophole for the majority of bloggers.
However, the current terms state that if you use Pinterest for a commercial purpose, you MUST have a business account and agree to that separate business terms of service.
Now, I can hear some of you trying to explain that you blog as a “ministry” or as a “hobby” and that you do not make money. This is where we need to be completely honest with one another… and with Pinterest.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you pay someone to pin on your behalf?
- Do you currently receive any income from your blog?
- Do you have plans to generate an income from your blog at some time in the future?
- Have you ever received a product in exchange for a review or social media promotion? (cough… that’s considered “bartering” by the IRS and is a form of income.)
- Are you using Pinterest to generate traffic for your blog?
Answer “yes” to any one of these questions and YOU are using Pinterest for COMMERCIAL purposes. Legally and ethically, you must sign up for a business account.
As of right now, changing to a business account does not cost anything, and I personally believe that it will always remain free to sign up for a business account. Just a guess. However, I do not think it will always be free to be SEEN on Pinterest. I will share more about my hypothesis in the next post.
