|
|
|
Home::ECommerce
Pixel Advertising: Fad or Trend?
Author : Oudam Em
Copyright 2006 Oudam Em
Pixel advertising is an innovative marketing concept introduced
by 22-year-old Alex Tew that allows advertisers to buy
advertising space on a per-pixel cost basis. The more pixels an
advertiser buys, the larger their ad and the greater the chance
that it will be clicked on. Selling one million pixels at $1
each, Alex's Million Dollar Homepage has created quite a buzz in
the news media and has easily reached its $1 million target.
Thanks to the stunning success of Tew's Million Dollar Homepage
(MDHP), pixel ad sites have mushroomed all over the net. There
are even commercial scripts that you can buy that will allow you
to set up your own million-dollar homepage in less than 15
minutes. However, this does not mean you'll make a million
dollars...or even a thousand dollars...or even the cost of the
script.
Alex Tew's pixel advertising concept was simple, so simple that
it eventually led many people to pound their heads on the wall
repeating to themselves, "Why didn't I think of this first?" But
his idea was also novel and original. And because of its novelty
it commanded a lot of attention (and free publicity) from the
media.
Needless to say, no news organization will rush to report about
a second million-dollar homepage, let alone one set up in 15
minutes with a purchased script. This is not to say, however,
that there is no room in cyberspace for the second or third or
even thousandth MDHP. In fact, there are presently at least a
thousand MDHP clones hoping to capitalize on the pixel
advertising craze. Many of them have managed to make a lot of
money despite not being the original.
Some people view MDHP clones as little more than shameless
imitations trying to leech off Tew's original concept. This
would be the case if his idea, while fun and original, has
little use beyond his website.
On the contrary, the clones have proved quite the opposite.
Their successes have demonstrated that Tew's Million Dollar
Homepage was worth much more than $1 million. Moreover, they
have lend legitimacy to the concept of pixel .
While the original MDHP has made "internet history" (in Tew's
words) by achieving its $1 million goal, it is unlikely to
become anything more than just a blip in internet history if the
concept is not adopted and refined by others. In fact, most MDHP
clones have achieved their riches not by ripping off Tew's site
verbatim, but by borrowing his pixel advertising concept and
finding creative uses for it.
Far from being just a fad, pixel advertising holds an enormous
promise as an alternative, cost-effective channel for online
advertising. But the concept is still in its infancy, and to
avoid becoming internet history, it has to evolve. An important
aspect of this evolution is how limitations inherent in the
concept itself and in how pixel advertising is being used are
addressed.
Perhaps the most obvious argument against pixel advertising is
that its current use is largely limited to websites with
seemingly useless clutters of ads with no content whatsoever. At
best these sites offer advertisers little more than a source of
non-targeted traffic.
An obvious solution to this is to incorporate pixel advertising
into content-rich sites. Instead of selling pixel advertising
exclusively through a site with nothing but a giant grid of
picture ads, banner-sized pixel grids may be incorporated into a
site with real content. A good example of this application is
the relatively small and unobtrusive pixel panel placed on
http://www.ezclassifieds.org/. Since most people go to
ezClassifieds.org to post and look at ads, the site is an ideal
place to offer pixel advertising to visitors. Obviously,
incorporating pixel ads into content sites involves a lot more
work than installing a ready-made script on a new domain. It
involves developing a content-rich site and *then* offering
pixel ads as an alternative to text links and traditional banner
ads.
Used in this way, pixel ads are at the very least superior to
traditional banner ads. Unlike traditional banners, a pixel
banner may contain ads for several advertisers. Plus, pixel ads
are not confined to predetermined shapes and sizes. Many pixel
ad scripts will automatically resize images submitted by
advertisers, eliminating the need to edit them to conform to the
publisher's requirements. Purchasing pixel ads is usually
painless and often fully automated. Since most people have grown
accustomed to ignore banner ads, pixel ads are likely to
generate higher click-through rates.
Related articles
|
|
|
