How To Block Ads on Pinterest

Many online platforms, like Pinterest, use sponsored third-party ads to make money. These ads can be annoying, mess up your feed, and diminish your user experience. They also look like regular posts, so you might accidentally click on them.

Annoyance aside, Pinterest ads can also be dangerous. Scammers can use them to advertise false products or even launch phishing campaigns. The consequences can range from financial loss to full-blown identity theft.

Using a solid ad-blocking service has become essential. Keep reading to learn how to block ads on Pinterest and avoid potential risks.

Pinterest ads explained

Pinterest serves native ads designed to blend in with regular pins. You won't see any flashy banners or pop-ups here. They'll usually deliver personalized ads and experiences based on your on-site and off-site activities. Yes, Pinterest collects a lot of your data to provide personalized ads.

Some of its logs include your sensitive info, precise location, interactions with the site, device info, your IP address, and more. If someone were to steal this data from Pinterest, they could use it to mount a substantial hack attack against you. That's why we recommend using a good virtual private network (VPN) when browsing the web. It can mask your real IP and location and hide your traffic from prying eyes.

If you take a second, you can also recognize sponsored pins: they usually have the "Promoted by" stamp in the bottom corner. Note that using a VPN, blocking cookies, and boosting your privacy will turn your personalized ads into random promoted posts. We believe that's a small price to pay for privacy and security.

How to block ads on Pinterest

Unfortunately, there’s no way to block Pinterest ads completely. Your Pinterest account settings allow you to:

1. Opt out of personalized ads
2. Hide individual pins
3. Report inappropriate ads
4. Block up to 1,000 advertisers

These options can lower your Pinterest ad count, but they won’t block all the ads. The only way to do that is to use a reliable third-party ad blocker.

Use a strong ad blocker

Ad blockers can remove Pinterest ads and block harmful pop-ups and malicious scripts. They can ensure a safer browsing experience by protecting you from scammers, malware, and phishing attacks.

An ideal ad blocker is easy to use, compatible with all popular browsers, and can stop ads and trackers. Ideally, it also won’t log and sell your data to third parties.

Our top picks include:

• NordVPN’s Threat Protection offers malware scanning, phishing protection, tracker removal, and ad blocking. Additionally, it had near-perfect scores in our ad-block testing and is compatible with many browsers and devices. Threat Protection is a part of NordVPN, which means you’ll also get IP masking, data encryption, and many other cybersecurity features.

  Get NordVPN Threat Protection | Read NordVPN Threat Protection Review

• Surfshark’s CleanWeb feature blocks ads, trackers, malware, and phishing scams. CleanWeb is a part of Surfshark’s VPN, which translates to lightning-fast speeds, excellent price-to-value ratio, and security features similar to NordVPN. Surfshark also supports unlimited simultaneous connections, which is ideal for large households.

  Get Surfshark CleanWeb | Read Surfshark CleanWeb Review

• Total Adblock instantly blocks distracting ads on millions of websites, including YouTube. It got a 100/100 for reliably blocking ads and trackers. It also offers malware protection and has a free version.

  Get Total Adblock | Read Total Adblock Review

Can Pinterest ads be dangerous?

Most ads can be annoying, but some are actively dangerous. We don’t recommend interacting with native sponsored posts on any platform. Clicking the wrong ad can have serious consequences — cybercriminals could steal your identity or infect your device with malware.

Identity theft is a tremendous ordeal for the victim. Scammers can steal your home title, use your medical benefits, file false tax returns, which can cause trouble with the IRS, and even commit crimes in your name. Identity theft is also extremely hard to roll back, and some victims never manage to recover fully.

How to recognize malicious ads on Pinterest

Learning to spot fake ads will protect you from scams, phishing attacks, and potential malware infections. Here are some of the common red flags:

• Lack of polish: Look for low-quality images, grainy graphics, designs, or logos. Reputable brands usually pay a lot of money for professional ads.
• Spelling or grammatical errors: Scammers usually launch thousands of ads at a time and don’t pay too much attention to spelling and grammar.
• Misleading or sensational offers: If an ad promises unrealistically low prices, get-rich-quick schemes, and free items, it’s probably too good to be true.
• Suspicious websites and redirects: If an ad redirects you to a suspicious-looking website, just go back and avoid that ad altogether.
• Private info requests: Beware of any ad asking for personal information. The same goes for posts that redirect you to a website, prompting you to provide private info. Never share your sensitive data with anyone.
• Poor brand reputation: if a brand has a poor reputation, it’s best to take your business elsewhere. Research to see if other users have interacted with the brand and learn from their experience.

How to block ads on Pinterest FAQs

Bottom line

Pinterest ads can be more than just a nuisance; they can cause serious damage, including financial loss, identity theft, or malware infections. We recommend learning to spot Pinterest native ads and avoiding any interaction with them. Better yet, you should block them altogether.

Using a reliable third-party ad blocker is the only way to remove sponsored pins. The Pinterest account settings allow you to hide specific ads and block some advertisers. This takes a lot of work and is not very effective since you’ll still be seeing a lot of promoted posts.

There are many excellent options to choose from. We recommend picking one of the best ad blockers.

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Author Details

Courtney Daybell

About the Author

Courtney Daybell brings over 15 years of experience in print journalism and holds a B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University. Her focus has shifted to cyber security, where she specializes in topics such as identity theft protection, password managers, antivirus software, and more.