Relax… if you like Pinterest, don’t worry about the link changes!

pinterest

Some of you might have read on several media outlets that Pinterest is changing links to eCommerce sites to self inject affiliate link codes so they can generate revenue on those pins. The immediate reaction to this was “oh no! they are changing my links?! That’s wrong… isn’t it?”…

Actually, it isn’t. If Pinterest was endorsing the products, they would be facing a huge FTC issue, however they are not – they allow self curation of products, images, video, etc for their users. But before we dive into their reason’s on why they are doing this, let’s look at why anyone would change links and why the practice has been going on for years.

If anyone uses Twitter, Hootsuite, or the 100′s of other social media publishing tools around the web, you have been exposed to link changing. Yes, making a tiny URL or short bitly URL is a link change. You have no idea what happens during those short, multiple redirects, so anything can be possible. What if, after years of business and growth, the same story came out about a link shortening service doing the following:

  1. Shortened links were used to track the PEOPLE that shared them
  2. Shortened links were sent through an API like SkimLink to inject tracking and affiliate codes on ALL links
  3. Some shortened links are part of advertising campaigns where they earned a cost per click revenue stream from the brand that created the link
  4. The shortened link code was tracked all the way through a conversion event on an eCommerce site to tie direct use to the user that made the transaction, informing the shortening system of that data to use across the web in the future.

Well guess what, some, if not all of that happens now.

Almost all services that shorten URL’s, allow content creation, allow social networking are FREE. Most of these companies pay millions of dollars a year, month or even a day to keep their free services running for millions of people to use, enjoy and make their lives better by saving time, making connections or helping them with projects. These businesses have to make money, somehow, and for them (mainly because of their size) data is where the money is at.

Taking that view of Pinterest, what they are doing is pretty benign. Does it really hurt you if Pinterest makes a small (3 – 20% cut) on your posted Pin conversion? No. There are no additional costs to you. Brands and retailers that participate in affiliate programs use them to drive more traffic and usually lose money on the initial sale – they are counting on that you are going to come back to their site based on your first experience. The cut paid to affiliates is already taken into consideration as a loss of margin or a cost of doing business.

Is Pinterest violating your privacy or rights in anyway? No. The one clear thing that will come out of this is that Pinterest is actually protecting your privacy through these link changes. They are not sending information about you to the retailer, just a link identifying them as the source of traffic. The retailer then pays Pinterest a cut of the transaction, regardless of who sent it.

If you are like me and love to experiment with new technologies, especially ones that are social, the Pinterest news wasn’t eventful. Honestly, I thought their revenue stream was going to be more evil and focused on providing personal data to brands, retailers and sites around curation behaviors to drive advertising and purchases. I’m not saying they won’t do that, but by playing their hand early and not denying what they are doing, they are setting the stage as an honest company that needs to make money but wants to focus on the experience for their users.

So, keep on Pinning. I’ll see you there: http://pinterest.com/awizemann/