Rocktails Blog > Pixelotto struggles ... still getting your daily clicks?

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> Pixelotto struggles ... still getting your daily clicks?

Richard Jones, iMagineer-in-Chief // 22 January 2007

Regulars will have seen my coverage of the Million Dollar Homepage sequel - Pixelotto by Alex Tew. Well things aren't going too swimmingly - with a prize fund stuck around $149,000 for several weeks and net rumours of advertiser unrest.

Part of the difficulty for Alex Tew is that he has utilised the PayPal system to collect advertiser revenue, with all of the "consumer protection" red tape that PayPal has (quite understandably) incorporated to support widespread trust and faith in its online payment platform. Apparently there are arguments about whether pixel ads are performing "as sold". My reading of the site FAQs is that it was always speculative and advertisers are getting rock bottom prices for their publicity. They were never likely to see massive conversion rates on click throughs. Punters are clicking to enter a draw - so it is pretty random whether the actual sites generate genuine interest (and most of blatantly opportunistic and low quality anyway).

The Russian doll effect is pretty apparent too - lots of Pixelotto links go through to various other pixel sites. How many do you need in your life? There is one that caught my eye as genuinely interesting though - Wall Around The World - which aims to stretch a graffiti-esque pixel "wall" around the globe. Certainly a cooler concept than filling a purple blank ad space simply because ... it's there. There are other interesting spin off ideas emerging - such as smaller pixel ad areas appearing above/next to bona fide content. That makes more sense - people have a reason to be there and you can focus ads on niche specialist areas as appropriate.

It is also rumoured that the Pixelotto script (that has spawned a million imitators) is up for grabs on eBay. I've been so busy getting my daily clicks that I have not been bothered to check. You gotta be in it to win it. But I ain't looking like the £1m prize fund that Alex Tew boasted off on launch, not unless he can create the same sudden breakthrough he managed with MillionDollarHomepage.

Clickin', hopin', waitin'...

R.J.

See more:

> Pixelotto site

> Wall Around The World pixel site

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