Alex Tew literally has a million dollar homepage.
He has been selling ad space on this webpage in 10x10 pixel blocks for a dollar per pixel. He is doing this for no reason other than to not have to take out student loans, send his parents on holiday, and get a decent pair of socks. The usual cabal of shysters and gimballed inhabitants of the Internets like poker sites, car salesmen and dating services has snapped up space for no reason other than because it is there. The site is ostensibly marketed as a time capsule for the Internet. He has seen an Alexa rank of upto 127, a Google PageRank of 7, and much publicity.
As part of this gimmick, he is now auctioning the last 1000 pixels on eBay UK, open only to pre-registered bidders. Bidding is up to approximately $1825 and there are nine days left in the auction.
Various imitators have sprung up in this hopefully short-lived genre of internet publicity. Altruistic critics opine that this could be an innovative way of raising money for worthwhile causes like poverty, hunger, or dinner with Paris Hilton. One man's meat is another's poison, and as the history of advertising proves, if one builds a billboard, it will be sold.
Technically speaking, advertisers are buying less than a pixel each. Since most browsers will be visiting with their phasers set to stun, and their resolution at between 800x600 and 1024x768, the most common set of pixels visible will be between 480000 and 786432. Thus some of the advertisers will be squeezed into a smaller space. Further, as most people who have bought a digital camera know, a megapixel is the unit of measurement, which is commonly considered one million pixels, although it is actually 1048576 pixels. A relevant essay is "A Pixel Is Not A Little Square" by Microsoftie and graphics pioneer Alvy Ray Smith.
If you've got a penny, I can sell you a pixel on my web-page. I promise to nurture it. That pixel could be worth at least two dozen CNN pixels in a few years.
Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
Heh...
2 - SillyNonsense
Can't someone find a way to shut that site down? It's ridiculous!
3 - Dave Nalle
The word 'retarded' comes to mind, but I'm not sure if it applies to the page, its owner or the advertisers the most.
Dave
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
That last 1,000 pixels bidding is up to $21,000
5 - Victor Plenty
I've seen my share of ugly and useless web sites, after more than fifteen years online, but this "million dollar" page is the most ugly and the most useless thing I've ever had the misfortune to meet in the dark alleys of the Interweb.
I gave it a fair chance, too. Gave it more of my time than it really deserved, hovering my mouse pointer over various adverts in an attempt to find one interesting enough to deserve a click-through. None of them qualified. Every single link I saw there was clearly a link to pure crap that isn't worth anyone's time.
I see no reason to ever return to that site, or to visit any of its imitators. People paying for these pixels are flushing their money down a toilet even more obvious than the flimsiest Ponzi scams of the dot-bomb era.
6 - Dave Nalle
I agree Victor, but the implementation is at least mildly interesting.
Dave
7 - Shark
Man, I don't know what's wrong with you primates. That site is beautiful! Fantastic! A work of art.
Art meets commerce: jeesus, what's not to love?
I think it's one of the more original sites on the internet.
8 - uao
I wouldn't quite call it a work of art (folk art, maybe), but it is a pretty stunning effect. Wish I thought of it.
Unfortunately, this electronic quilt will eventually see some of those sites vanishing, especially the spammier ones.
Wonder if he re-sells the real estate when that happens? He could have a gig for life, if he does...
9 - Mark Sahm
Either way, it's just another flash in the Internet publicity pan. I doubt the MDHP has any legs.
Nevertheless, as word of this site reaches corporate think-tanks, executives are smacking the back of their subordinate's head, saying "Why didn't you come up with that idea?"
Aaman, let me know where to mail the dollar for my 10x10 ad on your site. ;)
10 - Aaman
I wanted to, but chose not to, analyse the economic implications of this homepage - a new currency of pixels - where one CNN pixel is worth 10 blogcritics pixels, or vice-versa. (I hinted at it in my last paragraph)
11 - RJ Elliott
The dude has made nearly a million bucks from this page...so he's clearly not a fool.
Perhaps his advertisers are, though...
12 - member1000
Established Website Sells Pixel Ads on Ebay
ItsTeens.com is taking pixel advertising to the next level by integrating it on a content based popular website.
Toronto -- Canada - ItsTeens.com, a site developed six years ago by a 17 year old young entrepreneur is now auctioning a limited quantity of pixel ad space on ebay. Graphic banner advertising is nothing new to the internet but pixel advertising is new. Company logos/images will be advertised in the pixel ad space purchased on the homepage of the established teen portal, ItsTeens.com.
The term “pixel advertising” may never have been heard before Alex Tew, a young entrepreneur from UK came up with the milliondollarhomepage.com.
ItsTeens.com is taking pixel advertising to the next level by integrating it on an established content based teen portal. These pixel ads will be displayed on the homepage for the next two years. Unlike newly launched pixel ad sites, ItsTeens.com has taken this slightly different angle to attract businesses looking to advertise on popular websites that offer targeted traffic. Content based popular websites will continue to have visitors even after the media stops coverage about this new form of advertisement.
This young entrepreneur who maintained the website for the past six years is about to enter into higher education. The money generated through this pixel ad sale will go toward maintaining this website to help many other teens that will follow her foot steps.
Visit http://www.itsteens.com for auction details.