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== Development ==
== Development ==
The Million Dollar Homepage was conceived in August 2005 by Alex Tew, a twenty-one-year-old student from [[Cricklade]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Student's cash-raising net scheme |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/4271694.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=22 September 2005 |accessdate=30 January 2009 }}</ref> as he was about to begin a three year Business Management course at the [[University of Nottingham]]. He knew from his brother's experience that this would leave him burdened with a [[Pound sterling|£]]30,000 [[student loans in the United Kingdom|student loan]] that would take years to repay.<ref name="BBC" /> After rejecting a number of ideas, Tew thought he might be able to sell [[pixel]]s on a [[website]], where the purchaser would be able to add their own image, [[logo]] or [[advertisement]], with the option of including a link to the customer's website. He decided to call the project ''The Million Dollar Website'', and sell a million pixels at [[United States dollar|$]]1 each. Tew chose to sell the pixels in dollars because he felt dollars were the universal currency on the [[internet]], and because the pound was [[hard currency|strong]] against the dollar – £1 was worth approximately $1.80.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |url=http://milliondollarhomepage.com/faq.php |title=The Million Dollar Homepage FAQ |accessdate=30 January 2009 |last=Tew |first=Alex |date=26 August 2005 |publisher=[[Million Dollar Homepage]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xe.com/ict/ |title=Current and Historical Rate Tables |accessdate=30 January 2009 |publisher=[[XE.com]] }}</ref>
The Million Dollar Homepage was conceived in August 2005 by Alex Tew, a twenty-one-year-old student from [[Cricklade]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Student's cash-raising net scheme |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/4271694.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=22 September 2005 |accessdate=30 January 2009 }}</ref> as he was about to begin a three year Business Management course at the [[University of Nottingham]]. He knew from his brother's experience that this would leave him burdened with a [[Pound sterling|£]]30,000 [[student loans in the United Kingdom|student loan]] that would take years to repay.<ref name="BBC" /> After rejecting a number of ideas, Tew thought he might be able to sell [[pixel]]s on a [[website]], where the purchaser would be able to add their own image, [[logo]] or [[advertisement]], with the option of including a link to the customer's website. He decided to call the project ''The Million Dollar Website'', and sell a million pixels at [[United States dollar|$]]1 each. Tew chose to sell the pixels in dollars because he felt dollars were the universal currency on the [[internet]], and because the pound was [[hard currency|strong]] against the dollar – £1 was worth approximately $1.80.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |url=http://milliondollarhomepage.com/faq.php |title=The Million Dollar Homepage FAQ |accessdate=30 January 2009 |last=Tew |first=Alex |date=26 August 2005 |publisher=[[Million Dollar Homepage]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xe.com/ict/ |title=Current and Historical Rate Tables |accessdate=30 January 2009 |publisher=[[XE.com]] }}</ref>

Recently a Canadian Version was started http://www.millionlooniehomepage.ca
that also offers a free ad on page 2 for a limited time. Check this site out as well as the original.


{{Quote box |quote=From the outset I knew the idea had potential, but it was one of those things that could have gone either way. My thinking was I had nothing to lose (apart from the 50 Euros or so it cost to register the domain and setup the hosting). I knew that the idea was quirky enough to create interest... The internet is a very powerful medium. |source=Alex Tew, 22 February 2006.<ref name="FT">{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8c31b4e8-a3a7-11da-83cc-0000779e2340.html |title=Ask the expert: How to make a million |accessdate=2 February 2009 |date=22 February 2006 |publisher=[[Financial Times|FT.com]] }}</ref> |width=33% |align=left }}
{{Quote box |quote=From the outset I knew the idea had potential, but it was one of those things that could have gone either way. My thinking was I had nothing to lose (apart from the 50 Euros or so it cost to register the domain and setup the hosting). I knew that the idea was quirky enough to create interest... The internet is a very powerful medium. |source=Alex Tew, 22 February 2006.<ref name="FT">{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8c31b4e8-a3a7-11da-83cc-0000779e2340.html |title=Ask the expert: How to make a million |accessdate=2 February 2009 |date=22 February 2006 |publisher=[[Financial Times|FT.com]] }}</ref> |width=33% |align=left }}

Revision as of 11:18, 16 February 2009

The Million Dollar Homepage
File:The Million Dollar Homepage logo.png
The Million Dollar Homepage (As of 8 February 2009)
Type of site
Pixel advertising
OwnerAlex Tew
Created byAlex Tew
Revenue$1,037,100
URLmilliondollarhomepage.com
CommercialYes
Registrationnone

The Million Dollar Homepage is a website conceived by Alex Tew, a then 21-year-old student from Wiltshire, England to help raise money for his university education. Launched on 26 August 2005, the website is said to have generated a gross income of $1,037,100. The site's Alexa ranking as of 4 February 2009 is 46,523, having peaked at around 127.

The home page of the site consists of one million pixels in a 1000×1000 pixel grid, on which image-based links were sold for $1 per pixel, in minimum 10×10 blocks. The purchasers of these pixel blocks provided tiny images to be displayed on them, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to which they were linked, and a slogan displayed when hovering the cursor over the link. The aim of the site was to sell all of the pixels in the image, thus generating one million dollars of income for the creator.

On 1 January 2006, the final 1,000 pixels left were put up for auction on eBay. The auction closed on 11 January with a winning bid of $38,100.00, bringing the final tally to $1,037,100 in gross income.

Development

The Million Dollar Homepage was conceived in August 2005 by Alex Tew, a twenty-one-year-old student from Cricklade, Wiltshire, England[1] as he was about to begin a three year Business Management course at the University of Nottingham. He knew from his brother's experience that this would leave him burdened with a £30,000 student loan that would take years to repay.[1] After rejecting a number of ideas, Tew thought he might be able to sell pixels on a website, where the purchaser would be able to add their own image, logo or advertisement, with the option of including a link to the customer's website. He decided to call the project The Million Dollar Website, and sell a million pixels at $1 each. Tew chose to sell the pixels in dollars because he felt dollars were the universal currency on the internet, and because the pound was strong against the dollar – £1 was worth approximately $1.80.[2][3]

From the outset I knew the idea had potential, but it was one of those things that could have gone either way. My thinking was I had nothing to lose (apart from the 50 Euros or so it cost to register the domain and setup the hosting). I knew that the idea was quirky enough to create interest... The internet is a very powerful medium.

Alex Tew, 22 February 2006.[4]

The following day, he began to work on the website.[5] He spent £50 on the domain name and a basic web-hosting package.[6] Tew realised that if he sold individual pixels, the images would be too small to be easily seen, so he made them available as 100-pixel "blocks" measuring 10×10 pixels, meaning the minimum purchase price was $100.[2] The website, hosted by Sitelutions, went live on 26 August 2005 and the homepage featured a Web banner with the site's name and a pixel counter displaying the number of pixels sold, a navigation bar containing nine small Hypertext links to the site's internal web pages, and an empty square grid of 1,000,000 pixels divided into 10,000 100-pixel blocks.[2][7] Tew made a promise to his customers to keep the site online for five years; it will shutdown no earlier than 26 August 2010.[8]

As the last 1,000 pixels were being auctioned, Tew decided to defer his university studies until September 2006.

This will give me time to organise my life, consolidate my financial position (eg. pay the taxman!) and explore some of the new opportunities that have presented themselves. So the plan is to re-start my degree as a freshman in September this year, on the same course, Business Management. Starting University is a big change in itself, but to have the website kick off at the same time has been incredible, and as I've said before, somewhat overwhelming. I must admit, I was not prepared for the level of success the website has achieved, so I'm having to adapt and organise myself now. It's challenging, fun, and a great learning experience. One I feel I must embrace. Therefore I believe deferring my degree is the best option. I never expected the site to reach the level of success it has done, but I can't see how I can realistically continue my studies in the immediate future – due to the sheer scale of interest in my site, and all the new opportunities that have presented themselves as a result. There just isn't time now.

— Alex Tew, 8 January 2006.[9][10]

Sales

Three days after the site began operation, Tew made his first sale. An online music website bought 400-pixels in a 20×20 block.[11] After seven days he had sold 900 pixels, and another 4700 pixels a week later.[11] Tew initially planned not to market the site, instead allowing it to become known by word of mouth; however, he used his first $1,000 to pay for a press release that was picked up by the BBC.[5] The technology news website The Register ran two stories on Tew and The Million Dollar Homepage,[12][13] and the site received 1465 Diggs, becoming one of the most Digged links in that week.[14] The publicity help sparked more interest in the site; by the end of September Alexa Internet ranked it Number 3 on its list of "Movers and Shakers" behind the websites for Britney Spears and Photo District News,[15] and Tew had earned $250,000. Pixel purchasers included Bonanza Gift Shop, Panda Software, the producers of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, British Schools Karting Championship, Book of Cool, Orange, Cheapflights.com, Schiffer Publishing, Rhapsody, Tenacious D, GoldenPalace.com, 888.com and other online casinos, and companies offering get-rich-quick schemes, online dating services, personal loans, free samples, website designs and holidays.[16]

In October, the site received more press attention. Tew appeared on the BBC and Sky News's breakfast television programmes, and featured in a number of national newspapers, and The Times purchased a 14×2 block for $2,800.[16] The extra publicity brought even more visitors to the website. On 6 October, Tew reported the site received 65,000 unique visitors, and 100,000 unique visitors eleven days later. On 26 October, exactly two months since the Million Dollar Homepage launched, Tew had sold over half the available pixels. 500,900 pixels had been sold to 1,400 customers.[11] By New Year's Eve, Tew reported that the site was being visited by 25,000 unique visitors every hour, and that 999,000 of the 1,000,000 pixels had been sold.

On 1 January 2006, Tew announced that because there was so much demand for the last 1,000 pixels, "the most fair and logical thing" to do was auction them on eBay, rather than losing "the integrity and degree of exclusivity intrinsic to the million-pixel concept" by launching a second Million Dollar Homepage.[11] The auction lasted ten days and received 99 legitimate bids. Bids went as high as $160,109.99, but were either retracted by the bidders or canceled for being fake.[9] "I actually contacted the people by phone and turns out they weren't serious, which is fairly frustrating, so I removed those bidders at the last minute," said Tew.[17] The winning bid was for $38,100,[18] placed by MillionDollarWeightLoss.com, an online store selling a diet-related products. "I thought it might go for a higher amount because of all the attention," Tew commented, "but it's still a good result."[17] The Million Dollar Homepage made a gross total of $1,037,100 in five months.[9][19] After costs, taxes, and a donation to The Prince's Trust, a charity for young people, Tew's expected net income was $650,000 – $700,000.[10]

Media attention

Following the September press release that first brought attention to the site, The Million Dollar Homepage was featured in articles on BBC Online,[1] The Register,[12] The Daily Telegraph,[20] and PC Pro.[21] Tew also appeared on the national breakfast television programmes Sky News Sunrise and BBC Breakfast to discuss his venture.[22][23]

The crucial thing in creating the media interest was the idea itself: it was unique and quirky enough to stand out. I only had to push the idea a bit in the first few days by sending out a press release which essentially acted as a catalyst. This interest coupled with traditional word-of-mouth created a real buzz about the homepage, which in turn created more interest.

Alex Tew, 22 February 2006.[4]

By November the website was becoming popular around the world, receiving attention from Financial Times Deutschland in Germany,[24] TVNZ in New Zealand,[25] Terra Networks in Latin America,[26] the China Daily,[27] and especially in the United States where it was covered in Adweek,[28] Florida Today,[29] and Wall Street Journal.[30] Tew hired a US-based publicist to help with the attention from the American media and made a week-long trip to the US, where he was interviewed on ABC News Radio,[31] the Fox News Channel,[32] Attack of the Show!,[33] and local news programmes.[34][35]

The concept was described as "simple and brilliant",[29] "clever",[36] "ingenious",[5] and "a unique platform [for advertising] which is also a bit of fun".[20] Professor Martin Binks, director of the Nottingham University Institute for Entrepreneurial Innovation, said, "It is brilliant in its simplicity ... advertisers have been attracted to it by its novelty ... the site has become a phenomenon."[5] Popular Mechanics said, "There's no content. No cool graphics, giveaways or steamy Paris Hilton videos for viewers to salivate over. Imagine a TV channel that shows nothing but commercials, a magazine with nothing but ads. That's The Million Dollar Homepage. An astonishing example of the power of viral marketing".[37] Don Oldenburg of the Washington Post was one of the few without praise for the site, calling it a "cheap, mind-bogglingly lucrative marketing monstrosity, an advertising badlands of spam, banner ads and pop-ups."[38] Oldenburg continues, "it looks like a bulletin board on designer steroids, an advertising train wreck you can't not look at. It's like getting every pop-up ad you ever got in your life, at once. It's the Internet equivalent of suddenly feeling like you want to take a shower."[38]

As the final pixels were being sold, interest built up yet again. Tew was interviewed on Richard & Judy,[39] and profiled in the online BBC News Magazine.[6] The Wall Street Journal wrote about The Million Dollar Homepage and its impact on the internet community. "Mr. Tew himself has taken on celebrity status in the Internet community ... the creative juice ... paints an interesting picture of online entrepreneurship".[10]

Similar sites

As The Million Dollar Homepage became increasingly popular, its concept spawned many copycat sites.[38][10] Tew said of the copycats, "[they] popped up almost immediately; now there are hundreds of Web sites selling pixels. The copycats are all competing with each other."[30] "They have very little ads, therefore I guess it’s not going too well for them. The idea only works once and relies on novelty. Any copy-cat sites will only have pure comedy value, whereas mine possibly has a bit of comedy plus. So I say good luck to the imitators."[40] As the expectations of pixel advertising grew, scripts such as the open source Million Dollar Script have been written allowing people with little knowledge or skills to implement a pixel ad system on their website.[41]

One of the first sites that picked up on the idea of pixel selling was Million Penny Homepage, which launched on 8 September 2005.[42] Instead of selling a million pixels for $1, the owner was selling them for a penny, and similar to The Million Dollar Homepage, they were available in 10×10 blocks. The owner of Million Penny Homepage acknowledged Tew as his inspiration.[43][30] Another early website to take on the idea of pixel advertising was The Most Expensive Pixel On The Internet which attempted to sell one pixel for as much as possible.[44] On Present Me Color,[45] a twenty-two-year-old Siberian emergency worker posted a black-and-white portrait photo of herself on her homepage; as people bought pixels the image metamorphosed into color.[10] Sticker My Hummer, run by Arize Nwosu from Hollywood, California,[46] sold 10×10 pixel blocks on the outline of a Hummer H2 for $25, promising that once all the pixels were sold he would purchase a H2 and transfer the blocks into 2.23 square inch decals to stick on the vehicle.[10] A recent variation on the genre includes Million Dollar Cube.[47][48]

The newest is Million Loonie Homepage also reffered to by Million Loonie http://www.millionlooniehomepage.ca or http://www.millionloonie.ca Page one cost $1 CDN or a loonie per pixel while page two for a limited time is giving users up to 4 blocks for free. The site will be up for a min. 5 years. This is a first of a kind that offers free and paying. All the content on the site is Canadian but others are allowed to join if they pay on page #1. This site brings together musicians from all social networking sites on one! You never know whos going to be joining next. Just launched Feb 14th 2009.

DDoS attack

On 7 January 2006, three days before the auction of the final 1,000 pixels was due to end, Tew received an email from an organisation called The Dark Group, and was told The Million Dollar Homepage would become the victim of a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) if he did not pay a ransom of $5,000 by 10 January.[49][50] Believing the threat to be a hoax he ignored it, but a week later received a second email threat: "Hello u website is under us atack to stop the DDoS send us 50000$."[49] Again, he ignored the threat, and his site was flooded with extra traffic and emails, causing the website to crash. "I haven't replied to any of them as I don't want to give them the satisfaction and I certainly don't intend to pay them any money. What is happening to my website is like terrorism. If you pay them, new attacks will start," Tew said.[51]

The website's host server upgraded the security system, and filtered traffic through anti-DDoS software. After being down for a week, the site came back online.[50][51] The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Wiltshire Constabulary's Hi-Tech Crime Unit was called to investigate the extortion and attack, who believed it originated in Russia.[51][52]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Student's cash-raising net scheme". BBC News. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Tew, Alex (26 August 2005). "The Million Dollar Homepage FAQ". Million Dollar Homepage. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Current and Historical Rate Tables". XE.com. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Ask the expert: How to make a million". FT.com. 22 February 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d Boggan, Steve (14 October 2005). "Million dollar boy". The Times. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  6. ^ a b Geoghegan, Tom (6 January 2006). "The million-dollar student". BBC News. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  7. ^ Tew, Alex (15 September 2005). "The Million Dollar Homepage". The Million Dollar Homepage. Archived from the original on 15 September 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  8. ^ Tew, Alex (26 August 2005). "Buy Pixels – Terms and Conditions". The Million Dollar Homepage. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  9. ^ a b c Tew, Alex. "Blog". The Million Dollar Homepage. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Bounds, Gewndolyn (January 10, 2006). "Pixel-Ad Entrepreneur Closes With an Auction". Wall Street Journal. p. B8. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d Tew, Alex. "Blog Archive". The Million Dollar Homepage. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  12. ^ a b Richardson, Tim (8 September 2009). "Student flogs pixels to fund education". The Register. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  13. ^ Richardson, Tim (20 September 2009). "Million pixel student makes £32k". The Register. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  14. ^ "The Million Dollar Home Page". Digg. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  15. ^ "Movers & Shakers". Alexa Internet. Archived from the original on 26 September 2005. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  16. ^ a b Tew, Alex. "Pixel List". The Million Dollar Homepage. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  17. ^ a b Bounds, Gwendolyn (11 January 2006). "Pixel-Ad Entrepreneur Expected to Reach Goal". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  18. ^ Tew, Alex (2006). "Own The Last 1,000 Pixels on MillionDollarHomepage.com". eBay. Archived from the original on 27 January 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 27 January 2006 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ^ Richardson, Tim (12 January 2006). "Pixel-flogging student makes a million". The Register. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  20. ^ a b Savill, Richard (24 September 2005). "Student solves debt fear as website earns £56,000 in a month". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  21. ^ Aughton, Simon (22 September 2005). "UK student makes pixels pay". PC Pro. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  22. ^ Sky News Sunrise. Presenter: Eamonn Holmes. Sky News. 6 October 2005.
  23. ^ BBC Breakfast. Presenters: Dermot Murnaghan, Natasha Kaplinsky. BBC One. 20 October 2005.
  24. ^ Kwasniewski, Nicolai (29 September 2009). "Der Weg zur ersten Million - Ein Pixel, ein Dollar". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  25. ^ "Web review: Topical site of the week". Television New Zealand. 21 October 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  26. ^ "Estudante quer juntar US$ 1 milhão vendendo pixels" (in Spanish). Terra Networks. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  27. ^ "Cash pours in for student with $1m Web idea". China Daily. Reuters. 31 December 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  28. ^ Nudd, Tim (10 October 2005). "The King Of The Pixels". Adweek. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  29. ^ a b Kridler, Chris (4 October 2005). "Student cashes in on brilliant, simple idea". Florida Today. Archived from the original on 10 December 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  30. ^ a b c Bounds, Gwendolyn (22 November 2005). "How Selling Pixels May Yield a Million Bucks". Wall Street Journal. p. B1. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  31. ^ News interview. Interviewer: Jim Hickey. ABC News Radio. 14 November 2005.
  32. ^ Your World with Neil Cavuto. Presenter: Neil Cavuto. Fox News Channel. 14 November 2005.
  33. ^ Attack of the Show!. Presenter: Kevin Pereira. Fox News Channel. 15 November 2005.
  34. ^ NBC 11 News. Interviewer: Cary Berglund. NBC. KNBC, Los Angeles, California. 16 November 2005.
  35. ^ Channel 4 News. Interviewer: Scott Budman. NBC. KNTV, San Jose, California. 22 November 2005.
  36. ^ Guevin, Jennifer (13 September 2005). "A million-dollar home page". CNET News. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  37. ^ Ross, James (30 September 2005). "Million-Dollar Brainstorm". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  38. ^ a b c Oldenburg, Don (11 January 2006). "A Million to One". Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  39. ^ Richard & Judy. Presenters: Richard Madeley, Judy Finnigan. Channel 4. 9 January 2006.
  40. ^ Fontantella, James (11 January 2006). "Dollar-per-pixel ad site nets student $1m". FT.com. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  41. ^ "Million Dollar Script". Million Dollar Script. 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  42. ^ "WhoIs Search Results for millionpennyhomepage.com". Go Daddy. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  43. ^ Thomson, James (2005). "FAQ". The Million Penny Homepage. Retrieved 5 February 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  44. ^ Ridley-Smith, Neville (3 October 2005). "Story". The Most Expensive Pixel On The Internet. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  45. ^ "Present Me Color". Present Me Color. 2005. Archived from the original on 12 January 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  46. ^ Nwosu, Arize (2005). "FAQ". Sticker My Hummer. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  47. ^ Black, Robert (2008). "Million Dollar Cube". Million Dollar Cube. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  48. ^ "1 pixel? World's smallest, silliest online ads debut". IT World. IDG. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  49. ^ a b Fontanella, James (18 January 2006). "Hackers blackmail milliondollar site". FT.com. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  50. ^ a b Savill, Richard (20 January 2006). "Blackmailers target student's $1m website". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  51. ^ a b c "Blackmailers target $1m website". BBC News. 18 January 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  52. ^ "Million dollar pixel site targeted by hackers". MSNBC. Associated Press. 18 January 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
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