ADVERTISING RULES Terms of Service Privacy Policy Acceptable Use Advertising Rules Responsible Disclosure We believe Promoted Pins and other promoted content associated with Pinterest (“ads”) should make the Pinterest experience better for everyone. We think advertising can play a major role in helping people live more inspired lives, which is why we want our ads to be among some of the best Pins 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 on Pinterest. For the most part, if you stick to these advertising principles, you won’t have to worry about the finer print below. BE AUTHENTIC. Promote Pins that express who you really are and what you actually offer. PROMOTE PINS THAT MAKE YOU PROUD. We have high standards for our community and want ads to 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. FOLLOW OUR POLICIES AND HONOR THE SPIRIT OF THE RULES. If it seems close to the line, don’t do it. OBEY APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS. We want people to follow our rules, so we follow theirs. RULES You’re responsible for making sure your ads comply with all applicable law, regulations and industry codes, and for following our Acceptable Use Policy, our Terms of Service and these rules. 1. AD CONTENT Your ads may not contain: Anything that violates our Acceptable Use Policy Promotional information or calls to action in the image (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Promotional information (“10% off," “Two for .99!” or "Free shipping"), strong calls to action (“Call now!” or "Buy here") or references to Pinterest functionality (“Click here to Pin!”) in the image make your Promoted Pins stand out in a bad way in our visually beautiful experience. Strive to create timeless, beautiful images. Promotional information in the Pin description is acceptable as long as the dates for the promotion are clearly articulated (for example "Sale lasts 1-30 September, 2014"). Remember than Pins live forever—we want to make sure your brand isn’t negatively affected if a Pinner clicks through to an expired sale expecting it to still be there. Promoted contests must abide by these rules and our contest guidelines. Not allowed: Price in the Pin image or description (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Prices change but Pins live forever. If you want to share an item’s price, use Rich Pins—they’ll also notify people who’ve repinned your item of price changes. Not Allowed: Improper grammar or excessive symbology and hashtags (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Incorrect or excessive use of symbols, number or letters, such as several exclamation points in a row, degrade the quality of Promoted Pins. Please don’t use more than one hashtag, preferably with your business name or tagline. Hashtags don’t function on Pinterest like they do on other platforms. No: Yes: Fraudulent or deceptive claims or content (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads that include claims that are clearly— or even very likely to be—false or outrageous in order to promote a product or service. Misleading design elements (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads that include simulated drop-down menus, search boxes, messages or alerts that make people click Pins for reasons other than a desire to visit the destination. Screenshots that include these types of buttons in the Pin image are also not allowed, as they can be confusing to Pinners. Not Allowed: Nudity or sexually suggestive content (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow nudity or content that’s sexually explicit or suggestive. We want to keep Promoted Pins tasteful, so we’ll also reject images that aren’t actual nudity. For example, we don’t allow implied nudity (blurred out images, illustrations, etc.), implied sexual activity (clothed or unclothed), or any focus on certain body parts (genitals, pubic hair, female breasts, or the butt). Bathing suits and lingerie are acceptable as long as they aren’t overtly sexual. Not Allowed: Harassment (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads that insult, attack, threaten or impersonate people. For more details, read our Acceptable Use Policy. Shocking content (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads that are intentionally shocking. We’ll reject anything that’s sensational, aggressive, offensive, disrespectful, threatening or excessively violent, regardless of the message attached to the image. We also don’t allow profanity in our ads. Hate speech (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads that attack, denigrate, or promote hatred against people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or medical condition. For more details, read our Acceptable Use Policy. Implied Pinterest affiliation (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Don’t imply a Pinterest affiliation, endorsement or partnership of any kind without our permission, please! For more details, read our brand guidelines. Your ads may not promote: Adult products and services (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads for adult products and services, including toys, videos, publications, live shows, sexual enhancement products, sites that promote casual sex, international match-making or escort services. We do allow ads for family planning and contraception as long as the focus isn’t on improving sexual performance or pleasure. Alcohol (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that promotes or references alcohol. Imitation or conterfeit goods (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads for imitation goods (brand-name products identified as replicas) or counterfeit goods (stuff passed off as authentic). Drugs and tobacco (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that promotes the sale or use of illegal or recreational drugs, including products to cheat drug tests, drug or tobacco paraphernalia or tobacco-related products like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, rolling papers or electronic cigarette products. Products from endangered or threatened species False documents (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that promotes fake identification, passports or other official documents. Online gambling and lotteries, or games of skill Illegal activity (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that facilitates or promotes illegal activity. Malware and hacking (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that links to a destination that contains software that results in a misleading user experience. Ads may not promote instructions or equipment to illegally access or tamper with software, servers, cell phones or websites. Pharmaceuticals and supplements (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that promotes online pharmacies, clinical trial recruitment, the sale of prescription pharmaceuticals or supplements we deem unsafe or questionable, including anabolic steroids, chitosan, comfrey, dehydroepiandrosterone, ephedra, human growth hormones or melatonin. Pinterest incentives (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that directs people to click on Pinterest buttons to get money, prizes or deals in exchange. We want our community to reflect Pinners’ true interests, not what they’ve been paid to do. Deceptive subsctiption services (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Subscription services must clearly articulate their billing practices before requiring a user to opt in. The Pin description must also clearly state if subscription or signup is required. We do not permit negative option billing subscription services. Unacceptable business models (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow anything that promotes a business model or product that we deem unacceptable, like penny or bidding fee auctions and payday loans. Business models that do not clearly explain their billing policy or value proposition or use deceptive tactics to charge customers are also not allowed—we want our Pinners to be safe from these predatory practices. Weapons and explosives (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow ads for firearms, ammunition or firearms accessories like high-capacity loaders and scopes. We also prohibit other weapons like knives or bows if there’s an intended violent use. We’ll reject ads for fireworks or other explosives, instructions on how to make them or any other instructions on how to harm or kill people. 2. AD RELEVANCE Be straightforward about your product. Your ads should accurately reflect your brand or the offered product or service (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Your Promoted Pins should reflect who and what you are. We don’t allow bait and switch ads. Make sure you target the right audience (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We want our Pinners to see Promoted Pins that are relevant to what they’re looking for, so search and category targeting should be thematically consistent with the Pin image and description. Identify an accurate destination URL (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Your destination URL should be consistent with the Promoted Pin or displayed URL. Agencies (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) If you're working on behalf of advertisers (like at an agency), you can't create boards for your clients and promote Pins from those boards. Boards from which Pins are promoted should be "owned" by the business offering the product or service. You may promote your own Pins from your boards or help someone else promote Pins from their own account. 3. DESTINATION SITE Your landing page (the place your Promoted Pins link to): Shouldn't have email sign-up requests or similar design elements that block content (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We don’t allow destination URLs that block people from seeing relevant content when they click through unless they’re easily bypassed. ‘Soft interstitials’ that can be closed are okay, but if you can’t see the content without entering personal information, it’s not okay. Must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy and these ad rules Should contain content relevant to the ad (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) We’ll reject destination pages that don’t have content related to the ad or that are designed solely for the purpose of displaying more advertisements (ad arbitrage). Linking to other Pinterest boards or sites not owned by the advertiser are acceptable as long as they have content relevant to the Promoted Pin. 4. OTHER Respect our community's data and privacy (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) You may not: Use data you get from an ad with a third party to buy ads or perform marketing off of Pinterest Use advertising data for any purpose other than to understand your Pinterest campaigns on an anonymous basis Share advertising data with a third party unless they’re certified by us Stick to one advertiser per account (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) You may not manage more than one advertiser through a single account or change the advertiser associated with an established account. Respect the rights of others (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Your ads may not infringe upon or violate the legal rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights. Affiliate Pins (Show explanation) (Hide explanation) Be careful with adding affiliate links to your destination URLs. Our link quality system limits how well affiliate advertising works on Pinterest. We reserve the right to reject, approve or remove any ad for any reason, including ads that negatively affect our relationship with our Pinners or that promote content that goes against our interests. Ads, or categories of ads, that get lots of negative feedback may also be removed. These rules are subject to change at any time.
If you'd like to be notified when Pinterest.com makes updates to documents like this, choose which ones you'd like to subscribe to today (it's free!).
