Natalia, the prize is $1m not $1k. Yes, someone else will be another millionaire and its not exactly the same idea. So i’m confident you will eat your words.

so the trick is he’s going to keep 1 mil and give away the other 1 mil? i’m going to pre-empt that completely.

for everyone that paypals me $10 will be entered into a raffle to win 1 million dollars. no tricks.

the kid got nothing t loose. He started something and so many people are trying to copy him. I don’t know why some people are downsizing him. He succeeded once and he can do it again.

I have to agree with Natali on this one, I don’t think the idea will stick this time around.

Look at all of the pixel-ad copy cat sites out there, none of which seem to have had success even remotely close to the original’s, even with hints of variation on the original theme, and the decaying levels of traffic to the original page (with traffic spikes in predictable places, eg. last block of pixels for sale on ebay, it was more of a PR machine than a destination).

These pages contain nothing more than untargeted advertising anyways, heck you don’t even know where you’ll end up when you click on a pixel-ad… plus the prospect of winning a prize by clicking ads seems remotely familiar, wasn’t microsoft or yahoo trying to buy searches by offering random cash prizes to the searchers half a year ago or so? Did this work at all?

Good luck Alex, but I personally was hoping for your next project to bring something new and fresh to the web! Regardless, like everyone else here, I’ll be sticking around to see what happens.

You’re right, it is $1 million, which is quite an incentive. But don’t you think we’ll eventually get tired of making this guy rich???

wow, thumb up!

A new idea that makes his original one looks equally bad. If I were to comment it using other words, it would be ” Cheapskate ” ….

By reading his blog occasionally, I thought he is up to something new and fresh, but it was dissapointing enough to have a similar “pyramidical” sceheme as ur next BIG idea.

Still there will be someone to buy his ad, and for sure lots of ppl will be trying to hit the jackpot. ANyway, I dun mind dropping by to check it out myself.

Here is why I don’t think it will work:

He will first have to sell all 1 million pixels for this idea to even start it’s intended scheme: lottery. He’s not going to give away a million until he makes 2 million. So up until that point, it’s basically the same idea as before.

Merkato, he’s already sold quite a lot before its on display to the public

It’s just a stupid idea.

Natali, and the rest of you too, you call can yak on and on about his ideas (past and present) being stupid. But the fact is this guy has made a shitload of money from his stupid idea. And he’s going to do it again.

I can smell the envy…

“Merkato, he’s already sold quite a lot before its on display to the public ;)” - sharpshoot

how many has he sold so far?

um … “One Hit Wonder?”

(To bad Alex doesn’t have a band! At least his “hit” would still be playing 15 years from now

I have to agree with merkato. The lottoring system wun be active until every pixel is practically sold. Every ” betting ” machines has is own logics of always winning.

Not only does he have the potential to make $1 million dollars again, he will also end up having a list of email addresses with names, and physical addresses. In order to win the ‘lotto’, you will be required to register. In true marketing fashion, I’m sure that he will require more information to register than should be required. Selling this information will be a large source of income as well.

It’s not a test of Alex’s stupidity, rather that of those participating. There are lots of cows getting milked in the internet economy without the cows even knowing it so you just have to wait and see how the cows react. If he brings attention to them it might even have (a small amount) of advertising merit, though I’m skeptical.

Want to see the logo for Pixelotto website:
http://www.veign.com/blog/2006.....-logo.html

Oops:
http://www.veign.com/blog/2006.....-logo.html

It wont work again defiantly, the only reason it worked the first time was because it hit the main stream press and even went on tv in the UK! Now the press wont really care because the idea has been sold before, sounds like he’s pushing his luck ….

Don’t you think Natali, that you’ve already given a chance of making this guy rich…and that too second time. Everyone knows that if a news breaks on techcrunch, then the websites get overloaded and then bloggers like me will read this and then will post about it….and that will in turn give him more and more popularity and finally giving him a better pagerank which will inturn lure many and many more advertisers….what do you say?

he obviously went through the email list of idiots that bought pixel ads first time around and offered them to buy ads for his “new venture”

he’s not desperate so he’s not going to discount his inventory. i’m thinking at least 25% of his inventory has been prepaid for.

the obvious pitch is of course the fact that once he launches it’s going to be some PR frenzy and he’s going to guarantee the initial “investors” a great return on their investment!

what’s great is that instead of lying like print publishers or google do about clickthroughs and impressions, he’s upfront with how stupid web advertising and advertisers are.

I really believe that this will work for him.

I was a little disappointed also, from reading the blog I thought that it was a brand new idea … still, if you know it works for you ……….

The only thing Alex Tew needs for this to succeed is free PR…the only way he could lose is if the media did not write about him…

I posted a comment on the E-Consultancy blog post about this:

——————
It will work … it already is … all he needed to do was find another way to generate millions of pounds worth of free global PR to drive traffic to the site and voila.

This time he has the added advantage of his previous MDH exploits to attract the press on top of the obvious lotto element and already, before this new site has even launched, the media is starting to bite.

He may well be a bit of a golden goose to be honest thanks to MDH - I saw something similar a while back (http://www.millionwinnerhomepage.com/) but it just did not have the ALEX TEW factor. To succeed at this game you gotta have a good story for the media to focus on. It’s all in the narrative…
——————

As long as he is media worthy he will succeed…and I see that only getting stronger not weaker…although he has the tough job of evolving the story each time, and to be honest, good luck to him…

Cheers

Al

The real question is; how is the lottery going to be run?
I’m not sure about the UK, but I’m pretty sure in the U.S. that certain types of lotteries are illegal. I’m confident that Tew has consulted with a legal team on this, but this is what makes Pixelotto all that more interesting. Not anyone can just up and run a “lottery.” But I guess it’s the style & type of lottery that is being run.
In addition, this time around, I’m pretty sure that 1 million might make you a bit wiser to what worked the first time around and what didn’t. As you can see, the PR effect is already working because people are focusing on, “instead of $1 per pixel, it will be $2.” Advertisers had to buy $100 worth of ads (100 pixels) and even that wasn’t enough pixels sometimes. So, in effect, how this site will be different, what you can buy and how much will be interesting.
2nd question is, what’s the real strategy to get the $2 million?

UPDATE:
I just did some research & found this info below, from Alex Tew himself.
You can see it at this site:
I just skimmed it & haven’t even read it completely yet? Is that wrong?
You can find it at this site: http://www.moneyforum.com/gene.....-5493.html
___________
Hi

I have some very exciting news I’d like to share with you.

Next week, on 5th December, I am launching a new venture called ‘Pixelotto’.
It’s similar to The Million Dollar Homepage only this time I will be giving
away $1,000,000!

It’s all based around pixel advertising and generating big traffic for
advertisers. Visitors play for free - all they have to do is click on the
ads for chances to win the jackpot. The more they click, the more chances
they have - and the more traffic you receive.

As a valued customer of The Million Dollar Homepage, I’d like to give you an
exclusive opportunity to purchase advertising space on Pixelotto before the
site goes public. The world will be watching next week and this is your
chance to get on-board before everyone else.

The following link will give you exclusive access to Pixelotto, where you
can buy ad space right now:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to e-mail me and my team at
info@pixelotto.com

I look forward to welcoming you on-board for this new pixel adventure!

Cheers,

Alex Tew

Pixelotto
Pixelotto

Pixelotto Limited is registered in England & Wales. Company no. 05972757

Why would he try doing the same thing as before only with a bit of a twist. This is lame. Graduate onto something more meaningful or you’ll hurt the awesome legacy of the original MDH. Last time was great story of a struggling student doing something different to pay for his education now it’s just a promotion.

Damn Brits! All they can do is come up with stupid ideas. Really, when was the last time something great came out of that country?

Darrin,

The kind of lottery you’re thinking of is the paid kind. This is a free lottery so it’s legal.

It wouldn’t work if people like you didn’t post about it…

vik, how about the United States

and the rest of the world, oo and the language you speak!

It’s already been said - but if it’s so crap why do you have to write about it?

I did keep an eye on alex’s blog b4, he was telling us he was planning something “big”, I thought it would be a brand new idea, but dissapointingly, it falls back to doing the same “pixel web” again. Doing the same thing twice. Maybe this he will put an ads on TV as he put his first one on the national newspaper, that was he managed to attract traffic : ) ! I think he is now a millionare who runs out of idea ,therefore he came out with stupid idea, I personally feel his first one is stupid too, it managed to pull huge traffic was because everyone was curious how a “pixel web” looked like !

I think it will work because he is already building anticipation .

He already has a list of previous buyers .

He has nothing to lose .

Even if he does not make $1 Million, I am sure he will make several hundred thousand dollars .

He would have succeed even if he only makes $100,000 .

Many people will want to jump in early to advertise so as to mazimize there exposure to traffic .

A lot of people have never heard of Alex Tew . Those people will visit the site .

The News of Pixelotto will travel very very virally .

Lots of people will come to the site to win money .

HE CAN ALWAYS CHANGE HIS BIZ MODEL, especially after getting lots of feedback .

All he has to do is give out half of his revenue every week . In other words he will have a winner every week . Even if its only $1000 a week .

My 2nd thought after reading some of the comments and few links here and there, ummmm, I guess he will manage to pull some or even more traffic since he is giving away $1million, this will pull hundreds of thousands to go and click the pixel ads! But, I’m wondering if there is only 1 piece of ad that will bring you to winning the $1million ? Once the site launched, I guess there would be a lots of out there sitting in front of thier PC and trying to click on every single ad on http://pixelotto.com/ , isn’t so easy that you can win the $1 million ? I guess this will create a buzz and pull thousands to wait for its launch for winning the $1M !!!!

Here’s a screenshot of Pixelotto:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7.....310383417/

Nothing stupid about this. Straight brilliant.

I think this idea might just work, especially since there will be incentive for visitors to click on the ads.

I actually think this is kinda cool.

Never, never underestimate the stupid idea. Remember the Pet Rock?

I thought the original was brilliant (even though it wasn’t truly original) - but this is kind of lame. He must have blown through all of that cash already.

Michael, I’m thinking about selling pet rocks…but…we will give each customer TWO pet rocks - you want in?

^ maybe we can put ads on the rocks.

Hmm a little too late me thinks, theres already tons of “pixel lottery” sites out there. Most of them sprung up while the original milliondollarhomepage publicity was still around.

I don’t think he has the slightest chance of generating the same amount of interest again - unless he gave away the million he collected first time round. Now that would be good PR

Crazy or stupid idea over the web might pull more attention, haha as it will attrack more people due the curiousity to see how it stupid it is, therefore more traffic…… Our talks here already contributes some traffic to it prelaunch and furthermore its $1million prize, I stick to my 2nd thought, he will make another success …..

@ Magher
Good things that came out of America:
1. Yahoo
2. Microsoft
3. Google
4. Myspace
5. Youtube
6. FindLaw
. . .

vs. MillionDollarHomepage.com for Brits.

What a joke!

If his first idea is so stupid and made him a million bucks, I imagine all of you smart asses probably already have billions…er… right? Yeah… right!. No comment

Now that TechCrunch has highlighted him, this kid has a chance of succeeding. Seriously!

Everyone with a new site is looking for backlinks from an established site with high Google PR. It’s pretty dubious that the million dollar homepage would do anything for traffic, but people are easily willing to pay $10-$100 just to get that high PR link. As long as he can get a site that’s has some media attention, he’s set, and TechCrunch has provided this for him.

This story is starting to climb in Digg, and will probably be listed in the tech news by Monday. Every time we give someone like this attention, they have a better chance to succeed.

So maybe I’ll buy 1 pixel … it’s better odds than playing the lottery

If it makes people talk about it then chances are that it will succeed. The reason this will work is because he is the guy who made the original.

1) His marketing has already been done from his first attempt
2) People are going to be talking about this
3) People are going to be wildly clicking all the ads for a chance to win a million.

I think this one will work as well :O

Well, it seems that his Alexa rankings “seem” to be working….

http://www.alexa.com/data/deta.....elotto.com

But, that’s Alexa….I think we all have our reservations about that…again, we definitely need to get some new site tracking benchmarks. What are the good ones out there now?

For Compete, the site is too new. Not familiar with any others. Any advice to get details on this?

Once it turns into big bucks, the idea is no more stupid ! It will be called “brilliant” ! This post already gathers 49 comments, hot ? This is the first step of success, as it managed to pull the attention of TechCrunch and other tech media! Maybe it will turn into long-term business and continuation, the price of the pixel ads will keep on increasing in more coming generations, such as $3 per pixel next round and even the prize and it might create a trend over the Internet, “click pixel ads, win prize of $1million or more….”