No one could accuse Pinterest of resting on its laurels.

Over the past months the social image sharing website has launched Secret Boards and new blocking and reporting features, not to mention becoming the world's most popular social site after Facebook and Twitter.

Now it looks like Pinterest is moving towards monetisation with the release of Business Pages.

Pin to play

Up until now brands on Pinterest had technically been violating the site's terms and conditions. Not anymore.

In a recent blog post Pinterest's Product Manager Cat Lee wrote that the company had updated its terms and conditions for businesses.

“Thousands of businesses have become part of our community, giving great ideas, content and inspiration to people on Pinterest. Whether it’s Anthropologie sharing awesome clothes, Whole Foods sharing tasty recipes, the Smithsonian sharing fascinating collections, or Amazon making products easy to pin, many of us have been inspired on Pinterest by businesses.

“We want to help more businesses provide great content on Pinterest and make it easy to pin from their websites. Today, we’re taking a first step toward that goal with some free tools and resources,” she wrote.

Photo friendly

Business Pages must be verified, and allows brands to add new buttons and widgets to their board including the Pin It and Follow buttons.

Pinterest is also investing in educating brands, and now publishes case studies, best practice advice and guidelines about using Pinterest in marketing materials.

Christmas comes early

With some studies suggesting Pinterest drives more sales than Facebook, Business Pages means Christmas has come early for some brands.

To start using Business Pages or convert your existing Pinterest account visit business.pinterest.com.

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