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"Bug" in system removing Pins from Public Search

SaltySideDish
Just visiting

Back in May, all of my pins in public search dissapeared. After countless back and forth messages, my account was "mistakenly flagged" in the filter and it was put back in, took about 2 weeks to get my content back in search and all was normal. 

Then on June 1, it happened again. I reached out to Pinterest and this is what I am told (see screen shot). 

As a professional content creator, I spent more time on Pinterest than any other platform, perfecting custom images, custom videos, and stories. I am a secure site, do not break TOS, and have high quality content and over 100 recipe videos, the kind Pinterest wants on their site to combat spam. 

But I am going on day 5 with no answer other than "its a bug" - I have emailed back to ask the timeline of whitelisting my URL properly to be told basically they are still working on it. 

After looking into it, I am not the only blogger experiencing complete removal from public search, keywords, and suggested pins - basically wiping out years of work. 

Because it takes so long to get responses back and forth, with very little info from the Pinterest side, it leaves us feeling left in the dark on customer service with no end in site on when our content will be put back in. 

There has got to be a way to not only prevent this from happening, but to verify our accounts so we dont get hit wrongly as a spammer URL. I know when I got hit, I barely do 5-6 new pins a day, all custom done and brand new for Pinterest readers and my readers. 

I know that Pinterest values its relationships with content creators, so can anyone please tell me what is going on? 5 days missing (and counting) in a top social media channel is a huge deal.

 

@PinterestJanice @PinterestGabby 

6 Kudos
22 Replies
SaltySideDish
Just visiting

i was going to try to post the email but this forum keeps telling me it has HTML in it so it wont share it, therefore refer to screenshot. Thank you

3 Kudos
foodiehomechef
Jack-of-all-trades

@SaltySideDish   Same thing happens to me all the time! I started copy/pasting my post to Windows Notepad before I press Enter. What happens to me is that the Community algorithm truncates my post & gives me a warning that the HTML is unacceptable... and if I don't save the text in advance... well let's just say I'm screwed 😞

1 Kudo
theburntsunsetnovel
Loves to help

@SaltySideDish How do you know when your pins have disappeared from public search? Do you search for key words like "bacon wrapped stuff jalapeños" that you know are in a particular pin? And do you do this from another account or your own search button? And then do you scroll for a while until you are unable to find pin? Or is there just a simpler way to know your pins are not being shared like low impression counts? 

0 Kudos
SaltySideDish
Just visiting

In my case, its an obvious stop of traffic and then I can go look. My pins are not just pulled out of keywords, you cant even search my blog name and have pins pull up. 100% of public is gone - its happened to many bloggers this month (and recently) and it happened to me in May as well for two full weeks. I had just gotten it resolved and it started again June 1. I am a long established food blog so its easy to know when my content is just gone. Its very frustrating and its going on 6 days now. I have been back and forth with Pinterest and they just keep saying its a bug and they are working on it and to be "patient". But 2 years of content gone and they wont give me a timeline or help, its hard to be patient. They are one of the largest social media sites, it shouldnt be this hard to unflag a URL. 

0 Kudos
baldbrothersblog
Just visiting

I have had the exact same issue with my other site, and it's my main blog which literally pays for my life! 15k sessions a day gone like the wind. I hope they restore it all. So many hours spent creating perfect pins and content! 

1 Kudo
beautybitesorg
Just visiting

 

@SaltySideDish Same thing happened to me too! Only difference, in my case this lasted from April until middle of May until they could figure it out. My traffic for both months was cut in 1/2 (ad revenue obviously as well) and my monthly views on Pinterest went from 9m to 4m. 

Finally, 2-3 weeks ago they fixed and everything was back to normal. My pins showed up in search for the exact same keywords as before. 

Then, exactly on June 1st - gone from search again. It’s been a week now and same story, long emails with Pinterest and same responses. “The virality of a pin can only last this long”, “not everyone on Pinterest can show up in search” and “create more fresh content”.

Not really motivated to create content right now, because I also found out that anything I pin or post on my blog is being stolen by spammers (usually bots) and there are thousands of them. When a post doesn't have a pin, they create one using my ft image...an ugly one, but hey - it's a pin.

I filed over 2500 DCMAs in the past 2 months (yes, it lasted 4376764 hours) and asked for the spam profiles to be removed as well. I shared 3-4 Excel documents and got confirmations that all of the spam profiles will be checked. After all it doesn’t make any sense to delete one stolen pin, when these spam profiles have sometimes hundreds of them (and it’s very obvious it’s spam when you see the URL).

Then, the second time this happened, I discovered more spam instead of my own pins again when searching for my blog's name and the keyword. I saw a spam profile that I knew I had seen before. I found out almost none of the over 1000 spam profiles I had reported previously got deleted. 

Wonder why? At this point I also wonder whether it’s a bug or the same spam profiles that weren’t deleted are flagging us the entire time. Because once my pins were gone from the search feed, the stolen spam pins started growing like mushrooms. You delete one, 10 more pop up. 

Btw I also share recipes and pin only 4-5 times a day. Been using Pinterest for my blog since 2016.

@PinterestJanice @PinterestGabby I also think there should be an option to verify a website as trust-worthy, aside from inserting a piece of code into a header. I found so many spam domains that were claimed and not blocked. It’s crazy. They also had millions of monthly views on Pinterest.

Also there should be an option to report a malicious URL, not spam as defined by Pinterest (repetitive content).

I hope they figure it out quicker this time and find a long-term solution.

 

2 Kudos
SaltySideDish
Just visiting

@beautybitesorg  Literally, almost exact same story. I also believe that when you file DCMAs, the spammers are hitting your account and so its getting flagged till it goes out. I will tell you that when this happened last time, I figured since I was already out, I would spend DAYS filing DCMAs and that is exactly what I did. Because honestly you have nothing to lose so its a great time to just go after your content hard core. It really shouldn't be this hard to unflag a real site and quite honestly, it shouldn't even happen automatically without a manual review, especially on a confirmed URL. What I dont understand is how this is happening to so many of us (huge long thread on MediaVine too) and it can take WEEKS to resolve. I had someone email me on Pinterest yesterday saying they are a "small team" trying to get it done....why would Pinterest have a small team. We have invested 1000s of images, videos, and content into growing a spam free platform and ....they take out the good guys? I really dont understand why we are not more valued. 

2 Kudos
beautybitesorg
Just visiting

@SaltySideDish yes! I also feel like the spammers get angry and start flagging and stealing more and more after you report them. However, the first time this happened I hadn't sent a single DMCA notice all of these years - I figured it's not my responsibility to keep Pinterest spam-free I'm only one person and they're one of the biggest social media companies in the world. But yeah, once I got "deleted" from search, I didn't feel like creating content, so I spent hundreds of hours reporting spam pins and profiles. Sad, but true.

I also think it's weird, but they really seem to be a small team. I always get response from the same people. Maybe it's a good idea for Pinterest to invest in hiring real people and not robots to keep the platform actually safe and to support creators not treat them like spammers.

Is that in the MediaVine FB group? I haven't joined yet, but I will do so these days, after 3 years of being with them (I rarely use FB). I'm so glad I found your post here, I thought I was the only one.

2 Kudos
SaltySideDish
Just visiting

Yes, its in the mediavine FB group. Its a fairly long thread.  @beautybitesorg 

1 Kudo