Thursday, March 31, 2016

Pinterest has Ruined the Internet

pinterest_ban_2_450x450I am SO sick of Pinterest ruining every internet search I conduct.

I often find that a search for a given term will return hundreds of “re-pins” from morons posting the same photo (or topic) over and over again.

I am almost to the point of creating a plug-in that automatically removes Pinterest from ALL internet searches, but for now I end up just typing “-site:pinterest.com” at the end of just about every search I make on Google.

However, even this will allow Pinterest in OTHER COUNTRIES to ruin your search, so the better search modifier would actually be: -site:pinterest.*  (note the wildcard asterisk).  Thanks for suggesting, Lea!

Hope this helps someone else out there with their frustration of Pinterest littering their search returns with useless garbage.

-site:pinterest.*

-site:pinterest.com

45 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello. During my Google search today for a certain type of jewelry, I found that Pinterest once again had a monopoly on images. By the way, the search words I used were, "Louis XVI opal ring". It became impossible to look at virtually anything without getting a Pinterest image! And then, of course, one must log on to Pinterest--yada, yada, yada.

Anyway, I tried your advice of typing -site:pinterest.com at the end of my search term and it worked. What concerns me now, though, is just how much one can't see because of removing Pinterest images.

WOW. People have been crazy pinning these things and now forever ruining Google images. Sigh. Anyway, thanks very much for your tip. At least now I'm free of the Pinterest-marked stuff.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this. Its exactly what i was looking for, and it wasnt on pintrest at all.

Anonymous said...

This is a great post. Glad I'm not alone in thinking Pinterest has ruine the internet

carolyn gair said...

I love that I could type in "Pinterest is ruining the Internet" and immediately this post comes up. I like your tip. I'll be using it as well! Seriously, Pinterest idiots, stop the pinning madness! Who cares what you "like"!

Anonymous said...

It has ruined all of my searches for teacher worksheets!!!!!

Gil D'Aquin said...

I'm so glad to come across someone who feels the same way. I teach art to elementary school kids, and whenever we're looking for an image or information, this invariably happens. I'll to tell the kids, "Oh no, we've been hijacked by Pinterest again", but of course they don't understand. They'll go on about how great Pinterest is, and how their mom saves all sorts of macrame stuff on her boards. There's usually no actual information about the images on Pinterest. It's just the image, and a few lame comments. Thanks so much for the tip.

Anonymous said...

Pinterest blows in the biggest way possible. It wouldn't be so bad if you could actually see the images w/o making any kind of commitment that involves creating an account and revealing info, say like I don't know...Flickr. Where does Pinterest get off effectively hi-jacking every image on the internet and holding them hostage in exchange for an email connected to a live body? I've been using the "-pinterest" suffix in all my image searches but I really wish that horrid site would just disappear from the face of the earth.

argonette said...

Google should exclude Pinterest, PERIOD. Yes, I can (and DO) use the "-site:www.pinterest.com" switch, but I should not have to. But, as all mega companies do, Google will do what Google wants. Thanks for ruining the internet, Pinterest and Google, jackasses.

Unknown said...

Pinterest is a modern day version of a virus.

Unknown said...

Glad to read this. Thought it was just me being behind the times. There's only one thing I hate more than Pintinterest and that's Facebook.

Anonymous said...

Wow I am not the only one who thinks that pinterest f*cked up the internet. I dont even see why people use the damn site its so f*cking lame!

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU. Its been over a year since you posted this, but in my frustration today, i googled "Pintrest runined the internet" and lo and behold your blog included the "-site:pinterest.com" tip. Amazing. Thanks. - L

Tallulah said...

Finally people who understand why i hate pinterest. When i started googling "i hate pinterest", i was stunned to see that what came up was people who were simply intimidated by the "craftiness" of those who pinned things. I wanted to know why every google search landed me back in pinterest prison. google, facebook, pinterest...all of them are the brain children of spoiled rich kids who are trying to co opt our lives and the consolidate wealth of this country.

Anonymous said...

Please make that plugin. I would download the hell out of that. Pinterest is the bane of every single image search I make, it's cancer.

Bill Freese said...

I, too, Googled "Pintrest has ruined the Internet." Isn't it great that we have the Internet to let us know how many people agree with us about what has ruined the Internet. How I hate that moment when I see the image and think, "There it is. The page I need that will have the information I seek. OH NO! It's Pintrest. That image is in a wasteland devoid of useful information."

Anonymous said...

Biggest problem is even if you use the -site trick is it only removes pinterest.COM and not the other 90 billion country specific domains pinterest has.

Anonymous said...

A lot of artists hate Pinterest as well, as random people will go to an artists web site, DeviantArt, Pixiv or Tumblr account, and steal the illustrations right off the web page, most often without providing credits to the source.
Re-posting something someone else owns the rights to, without getting their permission fist, is a serious taboo in the art community, and any picture taken from one of the sources I mentioned earlier, is most likely copyrighted.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Biggest problem is even if you use the -site trick is it only removes pinterest.COM and not the other 90 billion country specific domains pinterest has.

THIS!!! I still get all the other country specific pinterest results. Pinterest IS a virus.

Unknown said...

this tip was a life saver! Noted that the country-specific sites aren't omitted but this helps with 98% of the problem.

Pinterest SUCKS.

Anonymous said...

Rather than refining search to improve effectivenss and quality, perhaps by listening to what users are saying, gooogle chooses to compete with pinterest utilizing pinterest's innovations. One hand washes the other. Fb and pinterest, ugh. Agreed, they've messed up the good use of search images and congested internet use.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

TheDudeAbides said...

I would pay money for that kind of plug-in. At least when I'm using Chrome I can permanently block all Pinterest results. I like Firefox but that completely pollutes all search engine results. And I hate having to type that Boolean at the end of every single search.

If you made it a plug-in we could add things like worthpoint and eHow and other worthless click farms that often pollute search results,

Anonymous said...

Agree with everything posted here and thank you so much for the tip enabling me to exclude this god-awful site. Can't wait for Pinterest to tank.

Anonymous said...

Another thank you - Pinterest has turned out to be a plague on the internet! I am completely fed up with them insidiously commandeering every search for images.

Anonymous said...

I too am glad I am not the only one who thinks pinterest is annoying. Worse still, by pinning pictures that you or I have posted are they not breaching copyright rules, not to mention invading our privacy. Just because they "like" something does not mean we want it out there. Tatamount to legalised stalking. Gives me the creeps.

devotiontodog said...

THANK YOU!!! What the hell, Pinterest??? Would love to have an app that screens out those hits!

Anonymous said...

Great tip, and I agree, Pinterest's dominance in Google image search results is a real problem. When I share photos, I try to find the original source and it's very hard now with Pinterest and Tumblr, and endless repostings of pictures with no credit to the original photographer or site.

Noncivilised Eye said...

YOU. SAVED. MY. LIFE.

i, like so many people who preceded me in these comments, just threw my hands up in a fit of frustration and typed into my browser bar “pinterest is ruining the internet”. that search brought me to you, my hero. i am so frequently looking for references and inspiration for my artwork, as well as tutorials, and would always struggle to find an entire image set, or even just the original post so i could credit or thank the artist, because a single image has been repinned into a billion “wish i could draw like this” boards. infuriating. thank you so much for this super simple solution that would never have occurred to me.

Unknown said...

Do a Google search (for anything), then scroll to the bottom of the results page, click on "Send Feedback," and send Google a complaint about this. They are not doing anything to fix this problem. I too am fed up with Pinterest junking up my Google searches. I do a lot of sewing/crochet/knitting and since I am self-taught, I use Google Images search a lot for ideas and techniques. But I just did an image search for "crochet vintage hat" and 5 of the first 6 results were PINTEREST. This is garbage. I hate Pinterest - it's nothing but pictures with dead links. If I want Pinterest results, I'll search on Pinterest. Google is ruining its search engine by allowing this. But apparently small business owners are using this to their advantage, deliberately creating Pinterest boards with specific key words so they will show up top on Google! And Google is allowing this! This seems to be a growing problem and if enough of us don't complain to Google, it's not going to stop.

Vladimir Venkov said...

I feel the same. When searching for images on google most of them are pinterest pins. F****g shitty pinterest. Thanks for the article!

PearPianist said...

I agree with all the above comments. It is appalling how Google Image Search has been subverted by the ranking given to Pinterest, and how often the wrong pictures come up as a result! However, I'm intrigued by the idea of creating a pin for my own website to improve its Google ranking....

Unknown said...

So sick of every search showing an entire first page of Pinterest garbage.
I googled ''Pinterest is ruining the internet.''
Found this site.
Used the suggestion.
Much better.
Donated 10 bucks via PayPal.
Thank you.

The Invisible said...

Thanks so much, Cam. You rock.

Lea said...

Amazing. I'm another that typed 'Pinterest is ruining the internet'. I'll not elaborate as its all been said above but wanted to make a minor adjustment:

-site:pinterest.*

..as my searches all come up with .co.UK and I assume others in different countries have similar.

The Invisible said...

Thanks, Lea. Yeah, including the wildcard "*" at the end instead of .com is more powerful. I'll add it to the post.

Anonymous said...

+ one million. ty

Anonymous said...

I just googled "Pinterest has ruined the internet". :)

Anonymous said...

I am actually very much in doubt that individuals have tagged or pinned all of these millions upon millions of images to Pinterest. In my opinion it is actually Pinterest themselves that have scoured the internet with bots that are automatically pinning every image they can find just to drive traffic to their site. I obviously have no proof that this is the case but I surely wish some organization would take this on as a challenge and prove that I am right and sue the crap out of them.

Val said...

Thank you Google for answering my search *Pinterest killed the Internet* certainly was not going to do a Google images /Pinterest search... One day I'm going to search *Google killed Pinterest* and be totally gratified..pretty sure bot theory by Anonymous ⬆️ above is true

Unknown said...

Hate, hate pinterest!

cCo said...

Came here because of a Google search for "Pinterest is ruining the internet", am not disappointed. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I used to find Google search really useful for finding detailed images and associated information on types of amplifier I had in for repair. Searching for Marshall JCM 2210 would bring up pictures and clicking them would take me to a useful page often by an enthusiast or fellow repairer that would help me. Now I get wall to wall Pinterest and clicking on them gets you nowhere.

Anonymous said...

With -site:pinterest.* you remove Pinterest with all TLDs from your search results.

Here is how you can setup your custom search in chrome:

1. Click on "Manage Search Engines" in Chrome's settings to enter search engines settings.
2. Open the "Google" entry in edit mode. (Find "edit" by clicking on the vertical dots.)
3. Copy the grayed out query URL with Ctrl+a (or Command+a on the Mac).
4. Create a new search named "Google without Pinterest" and the shortcut "gwp".
5. Paste the Query URL with Ctrl+a (or Command+a on the Mac).
6. Move your cursor right after ?q= in the string and insert +-site:pinterest.*+
7. Make sure that you inserted everything - including the plus symbols - and save.
8. Set is as "Make default" (click on the vertical dots to find it).
9. You may need to restart the browser to apply the change.

This is for Chrome. I did not cover other browsers, but it should be possible to apply these changes in all browsers.

Anonymous said...

With -site:pinterest.* you remove Pinterest with all TLDs from your search results.

Here is how you can setup your custom search in chrome:

1. Click on "Manage Search Engines" in Chrome's settings to enter search engines settings.
2. Open the "Google" entry in edit mode. (Find "edit" by clicking on the vertical dots.)
3. Copy the grayed out query URL with Ctrl+a (or Command+a on the Mac).
4. Create a new search named "Google without Pinterest" and the shortcut "gwp".
5. Paste the Query URL with Ctrl+a (or Command+a on the Mac).
6. Move your cursor right after ?q= in the string and insert +-site:pinterest.*+
7. Make sure that you inserted everything - including the plus symbols - and save.
8. Set is as "Make default" (click on the vertical dots to find it).
9. You may need to restart the browser to apply the change.

This is for Chrome. I did not cover other browsers, but it should be possible to apply these changes in all browsers.

DeathToPinterest said...

I absolutely HATE p***terest, that website is purposely designed to waste everyone's time, so fuck them. Pinterest is constantly getting in the way of actualy useful image searches, tricking you to click on them, asking you to 'sign up!' after 2 seconds, you just cannot see or use fucking anything on that cancer ass website, they are absolutely terrible. I would not cry if the pinterest headquarters was completely destroyed, actually I would open a bottle of champagne and celebrate!