We believe promoted content should make the Pinterest experience better for everyone. Advertising can play a big role in helping people get inspired and bring their future plans to life, which is why we want ads to be among some of the best stuff you see on Pinterest—beautiful, actionable and interesting. To make sure of that, we've put together these advertising principles and rules. PRINCIPLES We have high standards for ads. These principles should guide your content and behavior as you advertise on Pinterest. BE AUTHENTIC. Promote content that expresses who you really are and what you actually offer. PROMOTE PINS THAT MAKE YOU PROUD. Your ads should be some of the best stuff people see on Pinterest. DON'T PROMOTE SPAM OR OTHER BAD STUFF. People should be safe from that on Pinterest. OBEY APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS. Keep it legal. THE SPECIFICS You're responsible for making sure your use of our ad services and your ads follow all relevant laws, regulations and industry codes. You must also follow our acceptable use policy, terms, and these advertising standards. These rules apply to all parts of the promoted content, including the image, description and destination, and to features like audience targeting. BE AUTHENTIC AND HONEST Authenticity means being truthful and honest about the product or service you're promoting. It also means being transparent with Pinners about what they should expect when they interact with your ad, your site and your products or services. Accurately reflect your product, service or brand Learn more Your ads must reflect who you are and what you're promoting. Bait and switch ads (misleading ads that promise one thing but lead to another) are poor experiences for Pinners, so make sure your images, descriptions and landing pages are consistent. Your Promoted Pins must have descriptions, even if they're Rich Pins. Don't make misleading or exaggerated claims Learn more Please don't make false promises about your products and services in your ads. Disclose your billing practices Learn more If you charge users on a recurring basis, be transparent and use your ad's description to disclose the terms of payment. Stick to one advertiser per account, and be clear about who's advertising Learn more We want Pinners to know who's promoting content. You can't manage more than one advertiser through a single account or change the advertiser on an account. You also can't create boards for someone else (for example, if you're an agency) and promote stuff from those boards. Instead, you can help someone else promote ads from their own account. Be honest about your relationship with Pinterest Learn more Your ads should stick to our brand guidelines and shouldn't suggest that Pinterest is sponsoring your promotion or is formally affiliated with it. Basically, your design should look like it came from your business, not from Pinterest. You can use the word "Pinterest," but not our wordmark. Be transparent about data collection from features like conversion tracking Learn more On any site, application or property where you collect data used with a Pinterest service, you must provide clear notice to, and obtain legally-required consent from, each end user regarding that data collection, sharing, and use. If you use Pinterest technology that stores and accesses cookies or other information on an EU end user's device, you must clearly disclose and obtain legally-valid end user consent to that activity. Don't collect data for use with Pinterest on sites or apps directed to end users under 13, or send Pinterest someone's personally identifiable info. Respect our community's data and privacy Learn more You may not: Use data you get from a third party to buy ads or perform marketing off Pinterest Use data from a Pinterest service for any purpose other than to understand your Pinterest campaigns on an anonymous basis Use or share data from a Pinterest service with a third party, including another advertising service Join data from a Pinterest service with personally identifiable information or device-level information (like a cookie or device identifier) Respect the rights of others Learn more Your ads can't infringe upon or violate the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark or privacy rights. BE THOUGHTFUL WITH YOUR EDITORIAL To keep ads beautiful, actionable and interesting, we set high standards for the editorial quality of promoted content. We never allow: Images with promotions and prices Learn more Promotional info, discounts and sales in an ad's image can look low quality and even confuse Pinners. We don't allow phrases like "10% off," "2 for the price of 1," "Summer sale," "Limited time offer," "New" or "Free." You can include "Free" in your ad's description. Please don't include how much your item or service costs in the Pin. If you want to show price, use Rich Pins. With Rich Pins, if the price of your product changes, we'll notify anyone who repinned it! If you're running a contest, you can only add contest language and info in your ad's description—and don't forget to stick to our contest guidelines. Images with a false sense of urgency Learn more Your ad's image can't include calls to action that create a false sense of urgency or encourage immediate action. That means you can't include phrases like "Click," "Buy now," "Quick! Vist our website!" or "Call now." Calls to action that don't necessarily require immediate action are okay. For example, we'll allow things like "Fall in love with," "Spruce up," or "Get the look." Images with confusing design elements Learn more Your ad's image must be correctly oriented (not upside down or sideways) and can't include fake clickable elements or trick-to-click language (like "Click here" or "Download"). That means no simulated menus, search boxes, buttons, messages or alerts. Images with testimonials and ratings Learn more Testimonials and ratings often overpromise to the average Pinner. Your ad's image can't include testimonials or ratings of any kind, including personal product reviews and stars. Descriptions with more than one hashtag Learn more Stick to one hashtag in your ad description. Hashtags don't work on Pinterest like they do on other platforms—they don't help you track what's trending and they can confuse Pinners. If you do include a hashtag, try using your business name or tagline. Images or descriptions with shocking content or profanity Learn more Your ads shouldn't include anything that's sensational, aggressive, offensive, disrespectful, threatening or excessively violent, regardless of the message attached to the image. Don't include profanity (censored or not), or cautionary language that creates a false sense of urgency (like "warning" and "attention"). We also don't allow clickbait ads, including anything that's sensationalist, hyperbolic, or alarmist, or that plays on people's fears or self-esteem. Images or descriptions with improper grammar or lots of capitalization and symbols Learn more Excessive capitalization and incorrect punctuation (like using several exclamation points in a row) are hard on the eyes. Use proper grammar, spelling, capitalization and punctuation in your ads. BE RELEVANT AND RESPECTFUL WITH YOUR TARGETING Make sure your targeting is relevant to the product or service you're promoting. It's never okay to target Pinners in a way that implies you're aware of sensitive info about them. Target the right audience Learn more Your ads should be relevant and show up for the right people. Please don't pick irrelevant criteria when deciding how to target your ad. Examples An ad about shoes that targets "high heels," "sneakers" and "spring fashion" is okay. An ad about shoes that targets "recipe," "Christmas decorations" or "wedding dresses" isn't okay Don't target sensitive categories Learn more Targeting certain audiences can be inappropriate and even offensive. You can't target any audience based on: Health or medical condition Racial or ethnic origin Negative financial status or condition Religious or philosophical affiliation or beliefs Sexual behavior or orientation Alleged or actual commission of a crime Trade union membership Follow all database targeting rules Learn more When you use database targeting, respect Pinners' data and privacy. Any hashed lists you use for database targeting can't include: Anyone you know is under 13 Anyone's personally identifiable info Anyone grouped by sensitive categories like medical condition, ethnic origin, etc. Anyone who's opted out of your using this data for targeted advertising—you must also remove people from your hashed lists whenever they opt out You must give notice to everyone on your hashed list letting them know how you're using and sharing their information with third parties for advertising. You must also get any consents required by law. DELIVER A WORLD CLASS EXPERIENCE We care about the ad experience from start to finish—even the URL your ad links to. Use an accurate destination URL Learn more Make sure the URL Pinners land on is consistent with the destination URL you chose for your ad. You can't cloak your URLs or change them during clickthrough. Be clear if your landing page goes to a hardwall or signup wall Learn more If you require people to take an action (like signing up) before they can see certain content, your ad should make that clear. Also, your ads can't suggest or imply that a product is available on your landing page if you don't actually offer that product. Don't send Pinners to low quality landing pages Learn more Your landing pages should build trust in the quality and substance of your ads. Your landing page can't trick Pinners into visiting another page, have 3 or more ads in the first frame of the page, and/or start automatic downloads on a Pinner's device. If your landing page has a download link, that's okay—the download just can't start automatically. Don't use affiliate or redirect links Learn more At this time, we don't allow off-domain redirects to be used with Pinterest ads. Our systems will also block most affiliate links, so if you include them, your ad's landing page won't load. PUT PINNERS' SAFETY FIRST You're responsible for the content you promote on Pinterest, as well as the safety and trustworthiness of the products and services you offer in Pinterest ads. Heads up: for legal, product and reputational reasons, we don't allow certain categories of ads that other platforms do allow. We never allow ads for these products and services: Adult products and services Learn more You can't promote sex toys, videos, publications, live shows, sexual enhancement products, or services that provide casual sex, international match-making or escorts. False documents Learn more You can't promote fake IDs, passports or other official documents. Healthcare Learn more We don't allow any ads for medical devices or prescription healthcare items. We do allow ads for non-prescription family planning and contraception as long as the focus isn't improving sexual performance or pleasure. Illegal activity Learn more You can't promote anything that facilitates or promotes illegal activity. Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia Learn more Your ads can't promote the sale or use of illegal or recreational drugs, including products to cheat drug tests and drug paraphernalia. Imitation or counterfeit goods Learn more You can't promote knockoffs, brand-name replicas or goods wrongfully advertised as authentic brand-name. Badware and hacking Learn more We don't allow anything that links to software that results in a misleading user experience. We also don't allow products that promote instructions for or equipment to illegally access or tamper with software, servers, cell phones or websites. Nudity or sexually suggestive content Learn more Promoted content shows up in places that it normally wouldn't so we have to be a bit more conservative with nudity. We'll reject anything with nudity—artistic or not—as well as some images that aren't actual nudity. For example, we don't allow implied nudity (such as blurred out images and illustrations), implied sexual activity (clothed or unclothed), or any focus on certain body parts (genitals, pubic hair, male or female butt and female breasts.) You can advertise modeled clothing such as bathing suits and lingerie, as long as the pose and product aren't adult-themed or overtly sexual. Online gambling and lotteries, or games of skill Learn more You can't promote gambling game applications or gambling websites. We also don't accept ads for fantasy sports or other online prize-based games that require payment for entry. Ads for brick and mortar casinos that don't lead to online gambling, lotteries or games of skill are okay. Online pharmacies, prescription drugs and supplements Learn more We don't allow anything that promotes online pharmacies, the sale of prescription drugs, clinical trial recruitment, or the sale of supplements we consider unsafe or questionable, like anabolic steroids, chitosan, comfrey, dehydroepiandrosterone, ephedra, human growth hormones, and prescription medications for pets. Over-the-counter drugs and medicines that don't require a prescription are okay. Pinterest incentives Learn more We don't allow anything that directs people to click on Pinterest buttons to get money, prizes or deals. Products from endangered or threatened species Learn more You can't promote products made from tortoise-shell, ivory, coral or crocodile skin, or from the fur of tigersm polar bears, sea otters and other endangered wildlife. You also can't promote medicinal products made from rhinos, tigers or Asiatic black bears. Tobacco Learn more You can't promote tobacco products like cigarettes, e-cigarettes and chewing tobacco, or paraphernalia like pipes, pipe cleaners or rolling papers. Unacceptable business practices Learn more We don't allow anything that promotes products, services or business models that we consider unacceptable. This includes models like penny or bidding fee auctions, payday loans, and plaintiff recruitment services. We also don't allow business models that don't clearly explain their billing policy or value proposition, or use deceptive tactics to charge customers. Weapons and explosives Learn more You can't promote firearms, ammunition, firearm accessories (like high-capacity loaders and scopes) or other weapons, like knives or bows intended for violent use. We also don't allow fireworks, explosives, instructions on how to make weapons or fireworks, or any other instructions on how to harm or kill people. Weight loss products and services Learn more You can't promote weight loss pills, supplements or fat burners. For now, we also reject ads that focus on weight loss or fat loss. We're okay with ads that promote healthy eating and fitness if they don't focus on weight or fat loss, or make unrealistic claims encouraging unhealthy weight loss goals. We have restrictions on ads for these products and services: Alcohol Learn more You can't promote content that encourages the direct consumption of alcohol (beer, wine or spirits), or leads to the online sale of alcohol (including wine or beer clubs). We do allow ads for some alcohol-related content, as long as the landing pages don't lead to the online sale of alcohol or an alcohol brand or manufacturer site. These sorts of things are okay: Accessories like wine glasses, beer steins and flasks Recipes for drinks or food containing alcohol Recipes that suggest paired alcoholic beverages Events that may involve but don't solely revolve around alcohol consumption, like happy hours, winery tours and homebrewing classes Events sponsored by alcohol brands, where the event isn't focused on alcohol If you're an alcohol brand or manufacturer interested in advertising any alcohol-related content, please contact your Partner Manager. Right now, only a few advertisers can run alcohol-related ads on Pinterest as part of a small beta program. If you're part of this program, your alcohol-related ads: Can't be Product Rich Pins Can't target minors, or depict minors consuming alcoholic beverages Can't associate the consumption of alcohol to enhanced physical performance, improved social standing or better sexual success Can't imply that drinking excessively is beneficial, or that alcohol has therapeutic qualities either as a stimulant or relaxant Can't depict people under the influence of alcohol, or associate drinking with activities that are risky (such as driving, operating heavy machinery), antisocial or illegal Can't emphasize high alcoholic content as a positive quality In all cases, you're responsible for complying with applicable local laws and regulatory guidelines, including age gating where necessary. Contests and sweepstakes Learn more Before promoting content about a contest or sweepstakes, read these rules. If you run a contest or other type of promotion on Pinterest, please don't: Suggest that Pinterest sponsors or endorses you or the promotion Require people to Pin from a selection Make people Pin your contest rules Run a sweepstakes where each Pin, board, like or follow represents an entry Encourage spammy behavior, such as asking participants to comment Ask Pinners to vote with Pins, boards or likes Require a minimum number of Pins If your ad sticks to these rules, then it's okay to promote it. Political campaigning Learn more You can only promote political campaigning ads if you're a US federal or state political candidate running for public office, a political party, or a political committee that is advocating for the election or defeat of a US federal or state candidate for public office. All political candidates and political committees must comply with the Federal Election Commission's rules. We reserve the right to reject, approve or remove any ad that negatively affects our relationship with Pinners or goes against our interests. We may also remove ads or categories of ads that get lots of negative feedback from Pinners. These rules may change at any time. NEED HELP? LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT TO DO IF YOUR AD WAS DISAPPROVED.
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