Lauren Williamson | @Laurenew90

There has been a lot of Pinterest news lately! So we’re here to break it down for you.

Pinterest is growing

According to Mashable, Pinterest is projected to have 50 million active U.S. users by next year! That’s a lot of pinning going on! For this year, Pinterest should hit about 47 million active U.S. users before topping 50 million in the following year.

While this sounds like a pretty big number — and it is — Pinterest still has some catching up to do before playing with the big boys. Facebook reported having 128 million daily active users in 2013 and Twitter boasts 63 million monthly active users as of late 2014.

Direct app downloads are here

Pinterest recently announced through its blog that users can now download apps featured in pins directly from the Pinterest site.

For example, if a user pins a workout app that keeps track of their gym time, another user viewing that pin can download said app without having to leave Pinterest. Social win for apps!

Spam fighting beefed up

Needing a better spam fighter, Pinterest developed Stingray, an anti-spam program that identifies inappropriate and unwanted behavior in a matter of milliseconds. In the past, the company needed as much as 24 hours to identify some spam.

While the anti-spam team received a much needed boost, the team only consists of 12 staffers, which breaks down to about one team member for every 6 million pinners.

Certain links banned

In February, Pinterest announced that it would “automatically remove all affiliate links, redirects and trackers on Pins.” This changes things up because now merchants with affiliate marketing programs could see a drop in revenue from Pinterest. By banning affiliate links, Pinterest could be paving the way for another attempt at affiliate marketing. Perhaps the “Buy" button we’ve been hearing about?

Have questions about how Pinterest can be used for your business? Check out our Pinterest services to see how we can help you!