GLOBAL – September 20, 2013 – Yes, ads are coming to digital bulletin board Pinterest. Users needn’t worry though, they will still be "tasteful," Pinterest CEO and co-founder Ben Silbermann assured.
Instead of the banner or pop-up ads that are a constant source of netizens’ distress, the Pinterest ads will take the form of promoted pins from select businesses. As an experiment, the promoted pins will appear in search results and category feeds for now.
Silbermann explained on a September 19 blog entry on Pinterest, "For example, a pin for a Darth Vader outfit from a costume shop might be promoted in a search for ‘halloween.’"
"Nobody’s paying for anything yet—we want to see how things go and, more than anything, hear what you think," he said.
In the blog, Silbermann promised that the promoted pins, aside from being tasteful, will be relevant to users’ interests, improved based on user feedback, and transparent in that paid promotions will be announced.
