Pinterest Introduces Smarter “Rich Pins”

One of the cool things about Pinterest is the ability to save everything in one place.

But one of the most frustrating things about Pinterest is how often important information such as author, website URL, copyright, and other details are missing. Photos that are pinned directly from websites are often stripped of their metadata. And even when you’re careful to manually add the source and a thorough description to a pin, these details will often disappear or get changed by others upon being repinned.

This results in pins that prompt more questions than answers. Sure, that picture of a colorful quinoa salad looks tasty, but what are all the ingredients and how do you make it? Which company manufactured that sectional sofa and how much does it cost? Who designed that shirt and where can you buy it?

Pinterest is known for being one of the best social networks to connect consumers directly with products, but the lack of consistent, reliable context is a major flaw — not least for businesses who provide the products.

Now, Pinterest has joined with popular websites to provide users with “rich pins” that provide relevant information. Rich pins are identifiable by a unique icon that appears below the photo.

The new rich pins include:

• Product pins for things like clothes and furniture with pricing, availability, and where to buy
• Recipe pins from popular bloggers and websites that include cook time, ingredients, and servings
• Movie pins with content ratings, cast members, and more

For pins about clothes, furniture, and products, Pinterest is working with such name brands as Anthropologie, Home Depot, Target, Nordstrom, Zulily, Free People, and REI. Real Simple, The Kitchn, Whole Foods Market, Epicurious, Country Living, and more will be providing recipe information.

Where applicable, Pinterest will update old pins with the new contextual information.

I for one would like to see better metadata inclusion across the board — not just with a few of the big brands. But in the meantime, this is definitely a step in the right direction.