Pinterest referral code is hit and miss

1. 83

   WorkAtHomeMumsposted 12 years ago

   When I pin an image to my boards from a hub I edit the link and embed my referral code. I then randomly clicked on a couple of pins and noticed a pinterest warning message and unless the user accepts to proceed my hub doesn't open. So I remove the referral part and it opened fine.
   Some pins are ok. Some are not. Anyone else find this problem? I only link to my hubs not amazon products or anything like that.

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   1. 94

      melbelposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I noticed this thing yesterday. I don't think it's cool. It's kind of scary looking and is a great way to scare people away from a site... it almost reads like, "If you visit this site, you could get a virus and it would be all your fault." I've seen warnings like this in the past... I think MySpace used to have one that looked scary, too.

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      1. 85

         WryLiltposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Facebook does it to some links as well.
         
         I think it may be because random text and numbers or suspicious looking things in URLs are often linked to, for instance, virus or executable files for example?

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      2. 83

         WorkAtHomeMumsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yeah. That's right. But it only happens on some of my pins. So I ended up removing the referral code ( mine is a standard word ). I guess it's not such a biggie but hate the inconsistency.

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2. 61

   missoliveposted 12 years ago

   I just saw this and decided to check it out. You are right melbel, it is 'scary' looking. I ended up clicking the 'more info' link and got this -
   
   Links from pins may result in this message for the following reasons:
   The pin links to a redirect or URL shortener instead of directly to the source. For the best experience, users should link pins directly to the source, and not to links or URL shorteners which direct users elsewhere.
   The owner of the site has been reported as spamming on Pinterest to gain traffic.
   The site itself has been reported as misleading or inappropriate.
   The site has otherwise violated Pinterest's Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy.
   If you believe a site has been flagged in error, please contact Pinterest Support.
   Click "Submit a Request" at the top of this page.
   For "What do you need help with?", select Brands/Websites -> Blocked Site
   Include the following:
   A link to the website or blog.
   A link to a pin that's resulting in the error.
   You'll receive an email with troubleshooting steps. Reply to this message (a simple "I still need help" will do), and your ticket will be routed to an agent.

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3. 0

   kelleywardposted 12 years ago

   I just found this out this morning. Wow! I hate being identified as a spammer. Thanks for this thread. I guess we just have to use the non referral tracker when using Pinterest.

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4. 66

   2uesdayposted 12 years ago

   I am not sure how relevant this is to the problem mentioned here. I thought I had read that Pinterest strips out codes like Amazon affiliate ones, could this be something connected to that?

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5. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   A thanks to the OP for telling us about this,
   
   "Warning! This link redirects visitors to another site - it may link to spam or other inappropriate content."
   
   
   
   
   Well, BLANK Pinterest!
   
   I'm going to give myself a couple hours. If I feel the same way then as I do now, I'm deleting all my boards.

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6. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   I've calmed down. I have decided to just file it in my "I don't care" folder.

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7. 83

   WorkAtHomeMumsposted 12 years ago

   Ok now I am confused. Are you suggesting someone or something has reported me or my pins/boards as spam?
   
   You see if I remove the referral part out of the URL the warning does not appear.
   
   And some with the referral part don't show a warning.
   
   Oh boy...

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8. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   Been going through and deleting my trackers. Pain in the...

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   1. 83

      WorkAtHomeMumsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yep same here....i feel your pain. (diff a#$e) loll

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9. 78

   CloudExplorerposted 12 years ago

   Yeah I never use referral tracker's on pinterest, I only use it on facebook, mainly because I knew ahead of time that certain issues were going to come up such as this, it was just a matter of time, once security flaws were to occur there on Pinterest & since its such a new network. Good Luck for those who have, that sound like a nightmare to try to undo.

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   1. 83

      WorkAtHomeMumsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I've only got a hundred or so, so not that bad. I'm just wondering how many views I've missed out on as a result. That's most frustrating.

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   2. 92

      cclitgirlposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      CloudExplorer - you're on the money as usual.    I have just been pinning from hubs without the tracker because the window that opened wouldn't let you.  I have on facebook, but I always felt like that was okay.  With pinterest, it's just images and there was so much talk previously about it being a new network and referral trackers, that I decided to steer clear.  Good to know this, though.  Thanks for the head's up, everyone.

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10. 85

    WryLiltposted 12 years ago

    I've never used trackers on Pinterest. Although most of my pins come from organic traffic anyway (One hub with 7k+ and one with 3k+, the rest with several hundred - only about 100 of them from my own pins.)

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    1. 83

       WorkAtHomeMumsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I just noticed you posted 7 days ago WryLilt that your hub had 7k pins and now a week later 10k. Woo hoo!!

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