Hype, Meet Reality

After a peak in traffic in spring 2012, Pinterest has sputtered
despite dropping the invitation-only requirement.


To put things in perspective, Pinterest isn't doing all that much better
than the slowly imploding myspace.


That's right!
An 8% drop in traffic in the past 3 months.

Granted, this data is obscured to some degree by variations in the cat-and-mouse game between Pinterest, and our strange-bedfellow allies, the spammers; but before you buy that e-book from that self-appointed Pinterest guru whose byline is to instill a sense of panic YOU HAVE TO GET IN ON THE PINTEREST ACTION!, remember that Pinterest blows chunks, outside of recipe blogs and home decor brand names.

The hype machine doesn't appear to have run out of gas, yet, but it seems like the pin hags that spent 50 hours a week scraping third-party content to fuel Pinterest's hungry chase for venture capital, may have fallen behind on the laundry, and are too busy catching up folding threadbare socks and faded towels to infringe on pictures of cutesy socks and spiffy towels.

Our Friends The Spammers

Below are some comments from a spammer forum. A lot of the Pinterest accounts may look legitimate on the surface, but many are fronts. In order to perform their spamming feats, these guys have to infringe on copyrights. But on the other hand, they are exploiting pin hags and degrading their infringement experience. It's hard not to feel ambivalent.

Becoming A Pinterest Authority

Im currently attached to a board called "Hawaiian Islands" has around 3,700 Images and 1,200 followers. I have not posted much but it seems to get a lot of attention. Might be worth making you're own board and giving it a trial run to see how things go.

Increase your Pinterest Accounts and boost your traffic and increase sales by yourself.

5000 Pinterest Accounts = 300$
Time Frame = 1 - 3 days

Must Read Last Pinterest Thread

Very interesting will implement this method.................. But how much time it will take to see traffic from pinterest???

Pinterest Journey

I pinned 3,700 odd images by hand in a few days, its very easy Plus i had some time.

PinPioneer is an awesome tool to have. You simply scrap images related to you're keyword and then pin em, all automated other than typing in the keyword you want and the description. I have no pinned anything over 150 images at a time but the owner Rick said the bot can pin 1,000 Images an hour.

Picstopin To Picstospam

This post is for giggles.

Picstopin is a website I can only call a spammified Pinterest knockoff. Primarily, it is exploiting Bing's Image Search API to display thumbnails that the search engine Bing would show for some pre-defined search terms, or user-entered search terms. These thumbnails images might be deemed to be fair use in a court of law when diplayed by Bing in the course of a user's search, although they may be considered on the large side. When the same images are exploited by Picstopin through the Bing API, 'fair use' may be compromised - that's the sort of unprofitable legal hair splitting that no one would be expected to drag in front of a judge. It's not surprising that nopin metatags aren't respected, since the source Bing doesn't process them.

These images are arranged in the familiar format popularized by Pinterest, each image decorated by a PIN IT button. That's when the fun begins.

If a user uses the PIN IT button, the image will be credited to the website Gamerboat.com, NOT Picstopin. Gamerboat? What is Gamerboat? I looked up gamerboat.com reviews and found out, ironically, that the web domain I typed in the search query (gamerboat.com) gets obliterated from the search results, and the top result is some random Pinterest page. This demonstrates the negative power of Pinterest links: as they are treated by Google right now, having links on Pinterest is bad for the source website. Here is a screenshot:

That's the first chuckle. In trying to boost the search engine ranking of gamerboat.com via an underhanded linking scheme in Pinterest, Picstopin destroys this ranking, as outlined in this blog's Nasty Linking Practices and Clone Wars.

You can see here: pinterest.com/source/gamerboat.com/ all the images allegedly pinned from gamerboat.com; none of these images actually come from the site.

The second laugh is when a Picstopin user clicks on one of the Bing-provided image thumbnails, they are re-directed to the affiliate website of the day, mediated by Peerfly or Clickbank, for example. In some cases these websites will be denied by your virus blocker, in others, they may have intrusive pop up windows that prevent you from leaving the spam website. You may be enticed to pay for "satellite" service that consists of streams freely available on the internet, entreated to fill out phishing surveys, etc.

Picstopin is just a big old spam/virus delivery system with a honeypot aimed at pin hags. Let's hope the website is a thorn in Pinterest's side, and the hags' sides.

UPDATE: I'm sad to report that Pinterest has flagged Picstopin as a spam site and blocks pinning from it; however, pin hags can still get caught with the PIN IT button as it's coded by the spam-master as belonging to gamerboat.com,

Pinranker: Your Spamming Gateway

Automated copyright infringement for profit

Pinranker is a software that allows you to spam the pinning daylights out of Pinterest. Simply highlight a radio button to grab random images from Google, Yahoo, Flickr and even Youtube videos based on the search query of your choice, and Pinranker will automate pins, repins, and embed your Amazon affiliate code (not sure why, since Pinterest is stripping them off).

Copyright infringement is now automated via spambots, thanks to Pinterest. Oh, what a beautiful thing you've "created," Ben Silbermann.

Rooting For The Sharks

It's not easy to feel sorry for Pinterest
bring attacked by websharks.

According to TechCrunch and CMS Wire, many pinners have been locked out of their accounts because of compromised security. It appears that hackers access pinners' accounts and post spam. It's hard to think of a more deserving spam target than Pinterest.

Pinterest has no clue as to how this exploit is accomplished and how to end it, and is resorting to the embarrassing stop-gap measure of locking pinners out of their accounts, and making them fill up a survey in the hope of figuring out what to do.

There have been reports of deleted pins, though this may be DMCA take downs. It's possible that many pinners can't even conceive of creators asking that their IP be removed.

Pinterest is in the dark:

"Please submit a ticket if you have any idea how someone may have gained access to your login information. Consider whether you have recently encountered any misleading 3rd party apps, if you use web browser extensions, or if you use the same password on multiple sites. We also recommend running trusted antivirus software to check your computer for malware."

And now, quoting some slightly deranged pinners for amusement:

I thought they were accusing me of being the spammer because I pinned fast and it happened most of the time when I was pinning from Tumbler

the same thing happened to me today!!! it is driving me crazy, I want to get to my pins!!!!!

I just want to be able to Pin again!

Wow! I couldn’t live w/o my pinning!! Ouch, I hope it gets resolved

Then life stopped. My blog pins, recipes and contests I am working on (including the dream nursery I am pinning) is all gone – locked.

Karma, perhaps?

A Spammer's View of "Pin Hags"

The image pinners wish to project.



Busted.

How spammers view pinners (excerpts from Black Hat World Forum):

Don't get these glamorous pictures fool you, Pinterest is mostly older, fat ass women spending all their time on the internet, lazily clicking on pictures to pin them and getting their egos stroked for their amazing taste.

They're dreaming about high heels and castles but trust me, what I make money on is the peddling of donuts and limited edition Pop Tarts. [...]

WHAT SELLS

Thomas Kinkade crap

Amazon grocery products with quality photos: donuts [...], fruit and nuts [...], gift baskets [...], chocolate & candies are super hot [...], chocolates with really nice pictures [...], shit like these cupcakes sell like mad [...], candy apples [...], cute shit with jelly beans [...], 12-flavor gummy bears [...] - you get the idea.

Trendy shit like decorating items with seashells that you can put in their own folder. Example: [...]

ANY EFFING ANYTHING WITH HEARTS. Just search Amazon with the "heart" keyword in Home & Garden. They have heart-shaped measuring cups that no pinning hag will want to be caught without. You could fill up an entire fake account with heart junk merchandise. [...]

Niche stuff targeting the gullible and more likely to follow the links, like a folder of merchandise with Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

Bacon products, they'll pretend it's for their husbands but it's really for them [...]. I tried the bacon thing as a joke, now I'm laughing all the way to the bank.

AVOID

Dresses (overdone, and pinners won't fit in them anyway)

Electronics (reading instruction manuals is intimidating)

Jewelry (looks spammy)

Diets. These gals love to eat more than they love to diet. Give them food instead. Easy food, none of that hard-work recipe business.

Craft stuff. They like to look at it, not do it.

Link to Google Trends

See the other websites that the pin hags visit?

1. yummytastyrecipes.com (FOOD)
2. helpwithweightloss.org (OPPOSITE OF FOOD)
3. onegoodthingbyjillee.com (FOOD)
4. sixsistersstuff.com (FOOD)
5. plainchicken.com (FOOD)
6. zhishuba.com (NO IDEA, CHINESE SITE, NOTHING LOADS. SITE PROBABLY EATEN)
7. chef-in-training.com (FOOD)
8. the-girl-who-ate-everything.com (FOOD)
9. realmomkitchen.com (FOOD)
10. iknowhair.com (HAIR - probably EATING IT)

Pinner Hall of Shame?

Welcome to the rarefied atmosphere of obsessive pinning. Do these users really do have the right to upload, say, 40,000 images to Pinterest's servers? Can they show permission for every image? Are they protected against a lawsuit for registered works, carrying damages from $15,000 to $150,000 per image, plus attorney fees, and paying for Pinterest's lawyers in addition to those of the plaintiff? Is it worth it? The more images are uploaded, the greater the risk of getting sued, and the more likely the damages will be maximal as they are when willful infringement can be shown. What arguments, if any, can be made that the copyright infringement was not willful in the case of someone with 70,000 pins?


Jan Galbraith - 34397 pins


Joanne Giroux - 35841 pins


Marcy Rupp - 36458 pins


Valerie Thorpe - 38156 pins


Janessa VanOefellen - 38165 pins


Janie Lane - 38798 pins


Elaine Nasser - 39406 pins


Kathy Jackman Hutchison - 41409 pins


Kim Kiwi - 43652 pins
1% handbags


Lilly Styles - 44640 pins



CasaBella Interiors - 45834 pins
Disclaimer: "Pins are not our own property"


Monica Bourne - 50693 pins
"I'm an obsessive collector of inspirational and useful pictures [...]. And I compulsively organise everything."


Pascale De Groof - 55223 pins


Mayann Rizzo - 61503 pins
That's a lot of "being authentic" with other people's content.


Mary Beth Burrell - 78933 pins
Is there an image she doesn't like?


Christine Kysely - 80570 pins
"Visual Content on my Pinboards is owned and copyrighted by its respectful owners."
Why would a self-described artist and photographer infringe on the works of others to the tune of 80 thousand images, and admit it?


Lise Lemay - 80680 pins
Probably on the missing person list.


Teresa Powell - 82903 pins
There could be a few expensive lawsuits in those boards.


Luann Lang - 106740 pins
Please capture, drag away from the computer and air out in sunlight.




Pin Hammer - 23 pins

Mothership Spam Is Our Friend

Welcome to Pintensify, the spam mother ship.


Will Pinterest be dominated?

The swarm gathers steam and spam automation tools in the dark confines of Black Hat World forum. "Black Hat" refers to a web savvy crowd whose goal is to exploit the internet and search engines to their fullest extent, no holds barred, with every means at their disposal. They are the finders of loopholes. They are the hackers. Mostly, it's legal. There is a lot of buzz about Pinterest right now.

Many Black Hat World threads seek ways to mine Pinterest

Bugs are being worked out; how to cloak redirects, monetizing through CPA (cost-per-action) affiliate marketing, Amazon, diet scams, fake gift cards, pages serving pay-per-click advertising. They work in informal teams harvesting image libraries, programming bots, dealing in followers and invites, creating and selling Pinterest clone programs. Small spammers even complain about the larger spammers "ruining it for everyone."

Like the artists whose websites are being copied onto Pinterest by pinners, spammers are trying to evaluate the worth of Pinterest traffic. Unlike artists, these guys count their coins and keep statistics.

Black hat webmasters trying to market Pinterest-spamming bots are of course lauding it as "highly converting traffic," a.k.a. cash-in-the-bank for a spammer. Very few report high earnings "making a steady $300-400 from Pinterest" (a feat that appears to require about 20 thousand followers and thousands of accounts), they are outnumbered by skeptics:

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"I've dabbled in this and I still don't get it. The clickthrough rate is horrible."

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"i found pinterest requried too much work compared to other methods...i have no interest in spending tons of valuable time trying to make a hundred bucks/mo...i could make more at mcdonalds."

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April Total earning
Ad.sense Earnings: €62.83 = $82
Amazon Earnings: $6.01
CPA Earnings: $40.20
TOTAL: $128.21

Number of accounts: 74
Total followers: 1165
Total following: 1483

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"i am getting a decent amount of daily traffic from pinterest but not making much money. getting cpa offer conversions from pinterest traffic is not doing too well for me but i know a lot of money can be made from the site."

For many artists and photographers, thousands of pins result in negligible traffic. How much is this negligible traffic really worth? The spammer jury is still out.