Pinterest Clears Its Throat

Ahem!

There is a change on Pinterest on how pins taken from search engine results are identified. Whereas only the result page URL was recorded before, now, the image links still leads to the result page, but Pinterest has added a link to the original source.

As usual, Pinterest is the master of half-arsed measures. Why is Pinterest accepting pins from search engines images at all? And if they are accepting such pins, and recording the original source, why are they not respecting their own proprietary nopin metatag?

That's right; the bozos handling the programming aren't respecting the nopin metatag when users pin from search engine image results.

Cough, cough.

Adding insult to injury, the new link to the source is given a "nofollow" attribute, rendering it useless to the content creator.

How To Use Pinterest Legally - Advanced Class

Take the Creative Commons challenge! Why not GO LEGIT and pin images with a Creative Commons license allowing you to do it? Sure, you have to dig deep in the search interface to reach the mother lode. But it can be done. The tips below are your gateway to legitimate pinning, safe for yourself and the creators.

Click on the wheel icon on the upper right hand corner of Google Image search page, and select "Advanced Search."


Near the bottom of the "Advanced Search" page, open the "usage rights" drop down menu and you'll find four perfectly good options that will net you images that you are free to pin to your heart's content

The good news is that there are thousands of high-quality images that are perfectly safe to pin. Really. It's a nice surprise. Be sure to mention that your pin is legit in the comment section. You'll impress all your followers with your top-notch web citizenry.