ADVERTISING GUIDELINES
Our mission
At Pinterest, our mission is to help people discover and do what they love. We believe promoted content can play a big role in helping people find ideas and bring them to life, which is why we want ads to be among some of the best stuff you see on Pinterest. 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.
CREATE ADS 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.
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 community guidelines, terms, and these advertising guidelines. If you're trying out One-tap Promoted Pins, there are a few additional standards to meet. Remember these rules apply to all parts of the promoted content, including the image, description and destination, and to features like audience targeting.
For tips on making great ads, check out our creative best practices.
Be authentic and honest
Authenticity means being truthful and honest about the product or service you're promoting. It also means being transparent with people 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 More
Accurately reflect your product, service or brand Less
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 people on Pinterest, so make sure your images, descriptions and landing pages are consistent.
Don't make misleading or exaggerated claims More
Don't make misleading or exaggerated claims Less
Please don't make false promises about your products and services in your ads.
Disclose your billing practices More
Disclose your billing practices Less
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 More
Stick to one advertiser per account, and be clear about who's advertising Less
We want people on Pinterest to understand 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 More
Be honest about your relationship with Pinterest Less
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.
Respect the rights of others More
Respect the rights of others Less
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.
For inspiration and help with creating the best possible ads, check out our creative best practices or visit the Pin Factory boards.
YOUR ADS SHOULD BE:
Clear and understandable More
Clear and understandable Less
Ads should be simple, clean and easily understood.
We never allow:
Fuzzy or grainy images (try at least 600x900 pixels)
Incorrectly oriented images that are upside down or sideways
Overly busy images that are packed with text overlay or have too many font styles and colors (try no more than 4 frames and 2 font styles or colors)
Improper grammar or excessive capitalization and symbols More than 1 hashtag in ad descriptions
Professional and neatly edited More
Professional and neatly edited Less
Ads should adhere to the highest levels of editorial quality.
We never allow:
Poorly edited images that are distracting or exaggerated
Poorly cropped images that feel careless or recycled Amateur or user-generated content like selfies and screenshots
Authentic and straightforward More
Authentic and straightforward Less
Ads should set the right expectations and shouldn’t pressure people to click them.
We never allow:
Images with trick-to-click elements like fake video play icons, download buttons, search bars or buy buttons
Images that create a sense of urgency with phrases like “Click here,” “Try now,” “Hurry,” or “Limited time only”
Positive and aspirational More
Positive and aspirational Less
Ads should be optimistic and inspire creativity, joy and confidence.
We never allow:
Clickbait tactics that play on people’s fears, damage self-esteem, use alarmist language or imagery, or purposefully withhold information Demeaning before-and-after shots for health and skincare products that suggest user deficiencies or capitalize on anxiety
Be respectful with your targeting
Make sure your targeting is relevant. It's never okay to target people in a way that implies you're aware of sensitive info about them.
Target the right audience More
Target the right audience Less
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 More
Don't target sensitive categories Less
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
Be careful with data usage
When using data to advertise on Pinterest, make sure to be transparent with users and respect their privacy.
Follow all audience targeting and conversion tracking rules More
Follow all audience targeting and conversion tracking rules Less
If you use Pinterest technology that stores and accesses cookies or other information on a user's device, you must clearly disclose and get consent for that activity where required by law.
Don’t give us information that relates to sensitive categories—like medical condition or ethnic origin—or that’s collected from a child-directed site or app, or from anyone who’s under 13.
On any site or app where you collect data used with a Pinterest service, you must get legally-required consent from each user for that data collection, sharing and use, and give the notice described below:
CONVERSION TRACKING
If you use a Pinterest tag or other technology to provide us with data for conversion tracking, you must give clear and prominent notice to your users that their information will be shared with third parties to measure ad effectiveness.
AUDIENCE TARGETING
If you give us data that you’ll use on Pinterest for audience targeting—for example, by uploading a customer list—you must give clear and prominent notice to everyone you collect data from letting them know that their information will be shared with third parties for targeted advertising.
If your use of that data qualifies as online behavioral advertising—for example, if you’re using data from a Pinterest tag for visitor retargeting or from an audience onboarder— please also:
Give people instructions on how to opt out of the use of their information for targeting advertising. For Pinterest visitor retargeting, you must tell people they can opt out through their browser's Do Not Track feature or their Pinterest personalization settings.
Don’t send us information about people who’ve opted out.
Regularly update data to remove people who’ve opted out.
Respect our community's data and privacy More
Respect our community's data and privacy Less
You can't:
Use data you get from a third party to buy ads
Use data from a Pinterest service for any purpose other than to understand your Pinterest campaigns
Share data from a Pinterest service with a third party, including another advertising service
Join data from a Pinterest service with personally identifiable information (like an email address) or browser- or device-level information (like a cookie or device identifier)
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 More
Use an accurate destination URL Less
Make sure the URL people 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 More
Be clear if your landing page goes to a hardwall or signup wall Less
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 people to low quality landing pages More
Don't send people to low quality landing pages Less
Your landing pages should build trust in the quality and substance of your ads. Your landing page can't trick people into visiting another page, have 3 or more ads in the first frame of the page, and/or start automatic downloads on someone's device. If your landing page has a download link, that's okay—the download just can't start automatically.
Put 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. For legal, product and reputation reasons, we don't allow certain categories of ads that other platforms do.
WE NEVER ALLOW ADS WITH:
Adult products and services More
Adult products and services Less
You can't promote sex toys, videos, publications, live shows, sexual enhancement products, or services that provide casual sex, international match-making or escorts.
Badware and hacking More
Badware and hacking Less
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.
False documents More
False documents Less
You can't promote fake IDs, passports or other official documents.
Healthcare More
Healthcare Less
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 More
Illegal activity Less
You can't promote anything that facilitates or promotes illegal activity.
Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia More
Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia Less
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 More
Imitation or counterfeit goods Less
You can't promote knockoffs, brand-name replicas or goods wrongfully advertised as authentic brand-name.
Products from endangered or threatened species More
Products from endangered or threatened species Less
You can't promote products made from tortoise shell, ivory, coral, crocodile skin, tiger, polar bear or sea otter fur, and other endangered wildlife. You also can't promote medicinal products made from rhinos, tigers or Asiatic black bears. For a full list of prohibited wildlife products, please visit our partner, the World Wildlife Fund.
Online gambling and lotteries, or games of skill More
Online gambling and lotteries, or games of skill Less
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.
Nudity or sexually suggestive content More
Nudity or sexually suggestive content Less
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 pharmacies, prescription drugs and supplements More
Online pharmacies, prescription drugs and supplements Less
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. Online contact lens and eyeglass providers are okay.
Pinterest incentives More
Pinterest incentives Less
We don't allow anything that directs people to click on Pinterest buttons to get money, prizes or deals.
Shocking content More
Shocking content Less
Your ads shouldn't include anything that's sensational, aggressive, offensive, disrespectful, threatening, alarmist or excessively violent, regardless of the message attached to the image.
Don't include profanity (censored or not), or cautionary language like "warning" and "attention".
Tobacco More
Tobacco Less
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 More
Unacceptable business practices Less
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 More
Weapons and explosives Less
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 More
Weight loss products and services Less
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 More
Alcohol Less
You can promote ads for alcohol, including beer, wine, spirits, liqueurs, and alcohol memberships.
In all cases, you're responsible for complying with applicable federal and local laws and regulatory guidelines, including age gating where necessary.
Alcohol ads on Pinterest:
Can't be Buyable Pins or Shopping Ads
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
Promoting ads about the following products or services are always okay, and won't be considered alcohol advertising:
Accessories like wine glasses, beer steins and flasks
Homebrewing kits
Recipes for drinks or food containing alcohol
Recipes that suggest paired alcoholic beverages
Events that may involve alcohol consumption, like happy hours, winery tours and homebrewing classes
Events sponsored by alcohol brands
News and information about alcohol products
Contests and sweepstakes More
Contests and sweepstakes Less
If you promote a contest or sweepstakes, please encourage authentic behavior, keep Pinterest spam-free and be sure to comply with all relevant laws and regulations. In addition, please:
Don't require participants to save a specific image
Don't allow more than one entry per participant
Don't suggest that Pinterest sponsors or endorses you or the promotions
Make sure participants use the word "contest" or "sweepstakes" in their descriptions or images when they save Pins for the event
Learn more at our community guidelines.
Political campaigning More
Political campaigning Less
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's advocating for the election or defeat of a US federal or state candidate for public office.
We don't allow negative campaigning ads that attack a political opponent, including their personality, record or opinion. We also don't allow political campaigning ads that promote hate speech.
All political candidates and political committees must comply with the Federal Election Commission's rules.
Keep in mind...
We reserve the right to reject or remove any ad that negatively affects our relationship with people on Pinterest or goes against our interests. We may also remove ads or categories of ads that get lots of negative feedback from people on Pinterest. These rules may change at any time. Need help? Visit our Help Center
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