Pixel Ads — Be there by being (a small) square
Sometimes, it’s better to be there small, than not be there at all.
(Huh?)
I’m talking about pixel ads.
(Does that help?)
If you haven’t heard about pixel ads yet, not to worry. Soon, they may be everywhere.
Pixel ads may be the next big thing in internet advertising. Unlike not killing bunnies for money, or selling crumpled pieces of paper, pixel ads actually make a lot of sense.
Let’s say you’d like an ad on the home page of a web site that gets half a million unique visitors per month. On one such site, for example, a 166 x 200 pixel ad, goes for $1,500 per month. And that’s the smallest ad you can buy.
But what if you could have an ad on that page for only $50 a month? I say that would be a great ad, even if it was much smaller.
What if you could buy an ad that was only 10 x 10 pixels (like one of the squares at the top of this page)? Then, you’d be there in front of all that traffic at a fraction of the cost.
At $1,500, you’d be paying $.045 per pixel. At $50 for a 10×10 ad, that’s $.50 per pixel, around ten times more. The problem is, the normal web site owner doesn’t want to deal with selling his or her banner space one pixel at a time.
But I think that aggregating the advertisers would create a good arbitrage opportunity. People may be willing to spend $.50 per pixel in order to be there, albeit smaller, for a much lower cost.
Keep in mind, the Google PageRank that passes from site to site, is always passed with image links — and it doesn’t matter at all how large the image is.
So far, the web sites selling pixel ads are ones like www.milliondollarhomepage.com (and now www.quartermilliondollarhomepage.com).
These sites only exist to sell advertising. So far, the advertisers appear to be getting a decent deal because the concept is new and many people are checking it out. For example, this article in Direct Marketing News probably sent a lot of traffic.
Apparently, the sites are also being promoted with free press releases distributed several times per week.
Clearly, these sites are kind of a phenomenon, or fad. Once many people are doing them, the value of advertising on each successive copycat, will diminish greatly, such as Joel Comm’s and Robert Mena’s.
Of course that doesn’t detract from the 19-year old kid, “raising money for college” that has apparently already taken in $250,000 from his idea.
(If you ever needed proof that all the good ideas aren’t taken…)
On the other hand, what if high traffic sites begin running their own “million dollar pages”? Many people may check out the advertisers just because they’re on sites they frequent regularly.
At the least it may be as lucrative as Google’s AdSense program. Plus, with “normal” high traffic sites, there would be a high value for being on the home page — even if the ad is much smaller than visitors are used to seeing.
Of course, in the short run, the small size of the ads may attract extra attention for just that reason. Later, the big traffic volume may be enough itself.
As an experiment, I started my own pixel ad.
For just $.50 per pixel, you can have a 10×10 ad on bradfallon.com for $50. And that’s for an entire year. Of course, with more pixels, you can have a larger ad. Be creative! The minimum size is 10×10 and you can use any shape that’s made up of squares.
Many people have written to me asking how they can get a site-wide link on this site. This is how. Keep in mind that GooglePageRank and PageReputation are separate. That is, if you are building keyword text links from lots of sites, a link that builds your contributes to your PageRank does no detract from this effort; it only helps.
And fifty cents per pixel for an entire year is less than four cents per pixel per month. What a bargain!
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens with this. Like real estate developers who take a piece of real estate and build a mini-storage project, the price per square foot goes up as the size of the space goes down.
What do you think? Are pixel ads the next big thing? Or just another short-term online fad?
Either way, if you want a pixel ad on every page of this site, for PageRank and, with alt text, possibly Page Reputation too, for an entire year, for $.50 per pixel, click here for pixel ads.
Posted by
Hey Brad,
I was interested in the idea after i saw the website. IM a kid myself 20 years old. So I decided to make one myself. Not sure yet if mine will take off. I hope it does.
I guess ill see soon…www.MillionDollarSpinOff.com
Thanks
Robert Mena
http://www.MillionDollarSpinOff.com
Certainly something worth thinking about. I wonder what the SE’s take on this will be?
Heart Attack
I gotta get my site filled with banner’s
The Biggest Loser 2
Hi Brad,
I met you in Miami last feb, Andrew from Australia, I like the idea of pixel ads. Are you saying and image ad is better for pr than text?
Also do you have any updates on your course? I would like anything you have/recommend on Adsense traffic.
Andrew
Hey Brad,
Isn’t a 10×10 ad too small to even tell what is in the ad? Does that mean if I get a pixel ad on a site that the alt tags would have to say Pet Steps to get page reputation for those keywords?
We are always looking for ways to promote our low cost quality hosting website Just5buckshosting.com and this looks like a great oppertunity. We’ll shoot you and email and get started.
Thanks
OK, how do I sign up for a pixel ad on BradFallon? Nothing like trying a new thing, huh?
Sounds like a load of crap to me.
Page rank is passed via text links not images
second, who the hell is going to look at a image so tiny and small, if that was the case, advertises offline wouldnt rent billboards out they would rent out a rock on the floor in the grass
give me a break!
what lame brain idea will the next guy come up with!
This is just a short fad because of MillionDollarHomePage.com. I’m sure there’s a much better idea out there waiting to be exploited.
ecoquest international
At this point, I must agree with Dave and EcoQuest Int’l. I don’t believe the general public will fall for this. We need to keep the ‘net clean and clear from this fad marketing that junks up sites.
People searching the ‘net want real and useful information - not ads. We need to be creative about our marketing, keeping it real and useful. — Gourmet Betty
tell me if i’m wrong, but these pixel ads do not seem to provide a link back to the sites … placed your link here, and as i understand it, whatever shows up is what the spiders see too … and i can’t find the ads url on the pixel? i’m sure someone more seasoned can answer this. if the intent is to advertise, then i would think it’ll fall off to the wayside.
While still new to this arena - your Stomp the Search Engines clearing indicates that anchor text/text links are the way to go.
Curious why the change and how this would make much of a difference?
Tex
Everything HDTV
Dave,
You may be right, but PageRank is passed by any link normal link, either text or image links.
Here is an old link on Webmaster World. I could find others, but didn’t take the time. You can search “PageRank and images” on Google. This is a pretty basic concept.
Also, if you had a VERY small ad in a very high traffic place — like in the bottom right-hand corner of an Oprah show — I bet you’d get a lot of traffic. I’d rather have a small ad in a high traffic place than a billboard in the middle of the desert.
Brad
Hummmm … this makes me think , for a while . By one hand, ads are ads, but at a second thouht ..
Well, here is my veredict : this is just a image FFA page
Nothing more, nothing less
ºº
nada de novo na frente leste
from portugal, to the world , this is
LISBON CALLING
http://partidaritenao.blogs.sapo.pt/
P Quintella
something that small may have benefit just from it’s size…ie folks might wonder what the heck is that…and start wandering around.
What is up with the blacklist?
I’m a customer. I post like everyone else. For some reason lately I get an error when I post and there is mention of a blacklist.
What happened?
It seems like a bonanza for the first ones into selling the ads. One I’ve seen is selling 1,000,000 pixels for $1 each and they seem to be going like hotcakes and 720×1389 does it. Nothing that interesting as far as I’m concerned.
Ken Bowers
http://www.talk-on-line.com
So is this going to work? I mean wont google penalize sites because the link is not relevant to what your site is about?
Search engines index both src and href links so probably PR will flow. I read that “src” thing on google website .
Looks like a good idea to get some “flow” if not as many visitors as a large banner will .
But some added PR can get search engine traffic .
All in all a good concept and “very cost effective” than normal Link ad .
Sorry for double post .
I won’t fear “penalisation” because of a few non-related links . Everybody advertises on their websites and if google starts “penalising” for selling advertisement space , then we won’t probably have more than 10 results.Hee hee.
Although nothing should go “overboard”.
Regards
Bye
Yes I saw this concept on one of the other forums around a few weeks ago, this was when the kid had only taken about $40,000 profit. Nice to see he has made a ton off it.
Just shows that being different can pay off
Marc
Vitamin Supplements
For 50 bucks, and thats for the whole year.
You can’t go wrong.
I’m in.
Den
I’ve got to put this one down as a “why in the world would anyone do this?”
My brother sent me a link to the site the other day, and I admire his spunk for doing it, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why someone would buy pixels from his site? I”m sure he has some page rank now, but why would you be one of the first ones to buy?
Makes no sense to me.
Leupold Scopes
Definitely a fad. A huge opportunity for aggressive marketers to cash in.
Advertising by definition requires you get eyeballs to make it work. I guess “squinting” really, really, really hard but not being able to make out the advertisement will be the trend in the future.
As a former stockbroker, if this takes hold we should all buy stock in companies that make magnifying glasses.
Reminds me of the “7 Minute Abs” video series. Then the market moved to “6 Minute Abs”…”5 Minute Abs” etc.
Why not sell 1/2 pixel ads? 1/4 pixel ads.
Technology will find a solution to splitting up the pixel.
“I just want one chicken McNugget Please!”
At some point the market has to say the Emperor has no clothes on…
Brad how much for a one pixel ad?
This is the perfect marriage for newbies with traffic starved websites.
Sounds like an excellent practice for both advertisers and pixel ad sellers, assuming that PR is passed through img links…
Going to jump on board and give it a whirl…
Tyler - Rash Guards
Brad,
It’s very intresting, first time to know this. I just set up my new blog, maybe later buy one…
I think it seems kind of spammy if you only have a one square link. Isn’t this about the same as posting hidden links or one pixel gif links? I would think that Google would be against something like this and that eventually it could prove ineffective. I guess it depends on how small is too small, which is subjective.
Baby shower favors to make
You’re assuming that your pages actually pass PR and reputation, right? That’s worth testing if you’re going to sell ad space.
In other news, essayexamples.net has done a fine job of [url=http://www.essaysamples.net/show_essay/64050.html]mapping bifocalism[/url] in Lord of the Flies.
I agree with Harald. This is a fad. It will last for awhile, but what real incentive is there to go to these sites once they are sold out or the buzz is over?
I don’t think that mega sites would catch on either simply because ad blindness will set in to these sites. Are you really going to scroll over each 10×10 ad to see the title of the link on every page that offers it?
Great idea for Alex who started it and may be somewhat lucrative for some copycats, but the bottom line is nobody is gonna watch a TV channel of just commercials.
Hi Brad..
I am a bit confused now.. I thought the “Stomper” pretty much outlined that page rank flowed from the text anchor links…and NOT from images…but that the alt was more of a reputation thing…maybe I missed it somewhere. I did note that there was a mention of some show (Triple XXX) or something like it that had only an image..and zero text… but was extremely high page ranked.
Hopefully you will reiterate what is real, imaginary and false in the image link vs text link question which I see has raised of late.
BTW maybe a note on why no PR is being shown on blog sites…Is this the Google “sandbox” Is there rank there, just not being shown…or simply no rank at all?
I feel these comments would be very benificial for all on this blog topic…Thanks Brad
Remodel Contractor Maryville Tn Blount - A1 Advantage Remodel Contractors Located in Maryville Tn Blount County
Hi Everyone,
I think that this idea is great because the page rank still flows. No matter what the size you are still getting a relevant link that a search engine can spider. You can do this for little to nothing in cost…. sounds good from that standpoint.
Teething
Well, back to my website, MillionDollarSpinoff, it has been doing good. Yea, I know im not the original of the whole idea, but hey if it works, it works and its working!
If anyone wants a small free link on my page, for exchange of a link on yours, email me and maybe we can work something out.
Thanks
The Poor College Student
Robert Mena
Hey Brad,
How about including some alt text..?
PageRank algo splits the PageRank passed between all the links on the page… whatever anyone will get out of having one of 200+ links, it won’t be much.
I agree, Alt text would be good!
Boxing Gloves
If Google looks down it’s nose on link farms, FFA’s and the like, why would they not look with disfavor on sites like “milliondollarhomepage”? What happens if and when Google blacklist the site? Simple, the advertisers get no benefit from the link they paid for, not that they would get a lot of PR value from the site anyway.
John Prow
Power Trade System
doesn’t look like PageRank will pass from these things..
a small snippet from Matt Cutts interview on Aaron Wall’s site:
“I have to give props to http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ though. The laptop I’m typing this on has 1.47M pixels, but it never occurred to me to sell the pixels for $1 apiece in blocks of 100. Of course, I hope that the people buying pixels don’t assume that those pixels will flow PageRank. :)”
Yay, I see that Brad is including some alt text now.
Hi Brad,
Looking forward to my Stomper CD’s with great interest, hope its not a waste of hard earned cash!
Maybe I missed something, but why do the
million and quarter million dollar homes sites not show any page rank? I would expect a PR of 7+. Expect you have a real easy answer for that one.
Thanks anyway.
John
Opportunity Knocks
This concept will probably take off like most things over the internet. I just hope I do not wait to long to jump on the bandwagon.
Cleveland Polite
Free Car Insurance Quote - Free Car Insurance Quote. Receive a free no-obligation insurance quote from leading insurance providers here.
Awesome article Brad,
Looked at the ad and I think it is a great idea especially for the page rank coming from the site selling the ad, what will come up next?
Kari
Sewing Machine Outlet
To The Anonymous Disgruntled Stomper!
What is wrong with Brad informing you about those pixel ads? To be honest I really didn’t know that much about it but I do now. Thanks! Pixel this, Pixel that, I’m just very excited to get my hands on the Stomper!
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Hello brad I studied you cd set stomping the search engine and after about 7 mos of work I’m ready to venture out on my own , Looking at the topics last posted the pixel article is on that really stood out to me what I need to know is what info do you need from me to get started after I pay. I’m a newby to the web but I can follow directions.
looking forward to hearing from you
James Cooper
Golf Club Junction
I’ve bought a couple ads. Not big traffic but who know. I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I wonder if google will come up with something similar.
Baloney — I’ve read the Google patent. Again brad has made an assertion: “Keep in mind, the Google PageRank that passes from site to site, is always passed with image links — and it doesn’t matter at all how large the image is.” that has NO BASIS in reality. Google PageRank finds its foundation in the Google index. The index is 100% textual-based. I’m 100% certain
Pixel Ads are good for one person: the website owner.
While many of us like Brad, I think we all agree that he’s become highly opportunistic -at best and deceitful at worst. I wish he were a bit more honest.
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Do we have a link to a functioning site? That way folks could see an example in action.
http://www.healthyvitaminsupplements.net/
I purchased a 10×10 on this site, whatever way you look at it ive got a site wide link on Brad Fallon.com.
But the real winner is obviously the publisher and not the advertiser. $40,000 a year for what is essentually one banner!
I think I might copycat the pixel banner idea myself!
Gary McCaffrey
http://www.GaryMcCaffrey.com/
I don’t get it. I’ve just looked at a dozen Pixel Pages.
No doubt about it — the advertiser’s ad does show up (somewhere amidst the clutter). Good luck finding it.
OK - so the page receives traffic. As an advertiser, I’m only competing with a kazillion other pixel ads.
The Google Page Rank is H-U-G-E (somewhere between zip and zero).
So let’s see - I receive ZERO page rank, ZERO visibility. OHHHH I get it - the owner of the page make a killing. The rest of us get entertained by the really dumb people that paid to advertise.
Hmmm - sounds like a great advertising tool ta me (buy high/sell low). TERRIFIC SCAM! WELL DONE!!
Baby Shoes and Toddler Shoes
Hi Brad, I give all the credit to Alan Tew on starting this pixel ad craze. I myself have come up with a site called “Million Quarter Billboard” which just came active as of 10-17-05. I am doing this in hopes of raising some money for my family because of my health problems. I am however giving something back to some of the lucky people that buy ads. I will be giving away 50 4GB Apple Nanos for every 10,000 pixels sold.(or 100-10×10 blocks). Each block the person buys is worth 1 entry and all non winning entries stay in the whole duration of the 50 drawings. Limit 1 Nano per person or busines. This gives more people a chance at winning. So instaed of paying $100.00 a block like many others, my blocks will be $25.00. Not bad for at a chance at $250.00 Nano while still advertising at a reasonable rate! I am hoping to raise enough to get out of financial problems and hopefully send myself back to school. I am in construction and with my severe heart problems and having 4 children to raise, things are getting tough. I plan on giving a portion to charity as well. Thanks for your time and nice blog! Brian
http://www.millionquarterbillboard.com
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Hi,
I’m Andy, moderator at PixelAdsTalk.com.
Together with my team I have created a forum specialized in Pixel Advertising.
PixelAdsTalk.com
You are all invited and welcomed to join and participate to the discussions and we hope that you will have a very enjoyable experience on our forum.
Any suggestions or opinions you might have are most welcome.
Best whishes,
Andy
Brad,
This seems to be a more sustainable technique. I am tracking the Pixel page craze at http://www.milliondollarhomepagewatch.com/ and am finding that it is really starting to catch on with webmasters. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.
the milliondollar homepage chinese edition has done almost as well as the british one, illustrating the successful application of the pixel ad concept. so get on the chinese e-wave now and be the first western companies to advertise directly to the chinese marketchinese market< !
brand presence is everything in the billion dollar chinese consumer market, so establish your presence now!
if you think this is too early to advertise online to the chinese market, then you should read james mcgregor’s one billion customers now.
Pixel ads great for SEO links I just got list #3 in less then a week for pixel advertising the highest searched for pixel term . Using ads from pixel sites.
Pixel SEO links work!
Pixel ads are the SEO link deal of the year.
why is everyone so interested in PR?
PR is good
Anchor text is good
Traffic is HUGE…
who cares what your PR is?, if you were one of the early birds on MDHomepage you would have had 10’s of 1000’s of visitors to your PRZERO website. Traffic is king..you could be PR10 for all I care…no good if you don’t get any traffic (though highly unlikely)
but let’s forget about that…
if you want PR, anchor text and some traffic… come and see me.
I have the original pixel directory with a homepage pixel link (for traffic click thru’s) anchor text and full directory listing (for both serp’s and PR)
is there something else you want? a massage perhaps
perhaps you can read my blog..which reminds me..thanks for having me Brad.. but i need to go and write an entry.
Good luck everyone chasing your PR, traffic is king.
James AMillionQuid.com
I think it is a simple and fantastic idea. If I were to pay to advertise in one of these sites, I would ask myself: Why not??
PixelClick Network is not a single website, it is a network of affiliates. You can earn money by hosting ads, and if you decide to buy an ad, it is not only hosted on one website, but on all the affiliates as well!
http://www.pixelclick.net/
I’ve been tracking this fad/trend and am thinking more in terms of movement.
Alexa rankings continue to improve for over 90% of the 750+ sites that we know about. Google PR has been awarded to many, although I’m really at a loss to find common ground on the awards.
For some, the date of live link appears to be the key, as if the PR is inherited. For others, it could be the way the header is set up. For others with a fair amount of ads, it appears there may be some validity there, although I can’t be certain.
Suffice it to say, pixel ads will evolve. We’re already seeing the type that Brad is showing, and they make more than perfect sense.
For advertisers who are doing the full-page route, you may need to pile on the benefits and move into more and more ways to deliver the traffic to your page, or take your advertisers to other pages with dynamic pixel banners, etc.
Pixel Pages……fad or trend? Wish I was smart enough to know.
I do think that I have found a company that will make, and
possibly make you a LOT of money…at least in the near term.
Check out the Alexa ratings. They are off the chart for a
nascent company.
Would I suggest that you put a lot of cash in here? NO, NO
Put in a little…absolutely.
http://www.pixmeup.com/moadams
Hi,
Just thought I’d post this short message for any budding pixel site owners.
If your pixel site is flagging, and you’re not getting the traffic or sales that you want, then you need our guide. Containing tips, tricks and techniques that Alex himself used, this guide is a must have to anyone hoping to make money from their pixel site.
Normally £4.99, you can buy it on eBay, right now at the introductory price of just £0.99! Check it out here, and be the first to get it before the price goes up.
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We will soon have a site launched to go with the book, and more guides are on the way - stay tuned!
Pixel Success Guide.
I’m not sure whether pixel ads will be popular 2-3 years from now, but they sure do make an impact today, so they are definitely worth looking at, especially since the advertising rates have gotten so low.
Regards,
Michael Rad
Web2earn.com
hi im new and i think it will be fun