Any social network needs to be properly organized, particularly if it’s already a traffic monster with a large resolute user-base. There must be some sort of order, ascertain and labeling the business accounts which use the platform for commercial purposes, distinctively enough from the personal accounts.

Until now, there wasn’t any type of that distinction on Pinterest as personal and business accounts wallowed in the same mutual swamp. That was actually quite an absurd state, because the service had only permitted noncommercial use exclusively although it was knowingly obvious for all that lots of organizations do use Pinterest commercially.

But Pinterest decided that it was finally the time to differentiate between the two kinds and announced about some changes to the service. First, it created a new section of terms of service dedicated for businesses only. Second, it amended the terms of service for personal use to clarify which type of account people should wield. Here’s the relevant modification (from section 1 “Using Pinterest”):

Commercial use of Pinterest.

If you want to use our Products for commercial purposes you must create a business account and agree to our Business Terms of Service.

So for new businesses which want to join Pinterest it is now crystal clear that they have to start a business account. But what about businesses that already established their presence within a personal account? Pinterest offering an easy solution- through the business sign-up page, businesses can briskly convert their account.

In addition, business accounts can and should verify their website (a feature that has been presented few weeks back) and try Pinterest’s widgets if they further intend to encourage users to engage with their account outside of Pinterest as well.

This move by Pinterest allows the image-based social service to unfold more dedicated business-related tools such as page analytics in the future. But more importantly, it sets the ground work for the implementation of an effective monetization strategy. If and when Pinterest will launch its own advertising platform for instance, now it probably would be much easier to reach structured business pages.

Anyhow, if you have an account with commercial intentions it would be wise to convert your account as fast as possible. Even though I presume there will be some grace period, I think it safe to assume that eventually Pinterest will remove commercial-personal accounts.