Digital news: Pinterest announces it will begin running ads on its site

Time has been ticking, but it’s finally happening. After more than three years since becoming one of the most popular social networks, Pinterest announced it will begin running ads on its site.

The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise for many in the marketing world. Without having a clear revenue model for years, this announcement will not only please large businesses, but also the pocketbooks at Pinterest.

Pinterest users can be rest assured (for now) that the ad model for Pinterest will be focused entirely on premium offerings. Pinterest is reportedly asking for commits of spend over $1 million. Clearly this makes this advertising opportunity out of reach for all but the largest brands. The good news for consumers is that the ad product won’t overwhelm the site they know and love.

So the question many small businesses might ask is how will this affect me? This is possibly where the best news is. Since there still is no ad model supporting lower budgets, small businesses can rest assured they can continue pinning content for free and that their pins will continue to display in Pinterest user home feeds. This should excite many businesses after it was recently announced Facebook would drop the amount of organic reach a business’s posts will have on Facebook. The time of free marketing online on large social networks may come to a close in the next few years, so businesses should take advantage while they can. Pin away!

– Bryan Nagy