Introduction:
Pixel advertising is a form of promotion in which an ad is placed on a web site using tiny dots otherwise known as pixels, usually with size in the range of 100 pixels and higher. The pixel ad image normally links to the advertiser's product, service or web site.
The leading pixel ad site today is the milliondollarhomepage, selling ads at one dollar a pixel. Other web sites offer pixel ads from one dollar to a penny. A few sites offer pixel ads for free, a kind of promotion from the looks of it.
Origin:
Some people have the mistaken notion that pixel advertising came about middle of 2005. Actually, there have been two instances that pixel advertising appeared online.
The first advent of pixel advertising came on April 12, 2004, when a "one pixel ad" campaign appeared on eBay. The winning bidder would then have a chance to display an ad on the front page of cockeyed.com for 21 days, using a one pixel ad placed at the top of the home page. Nothing was heard about pixel ad from that point on.
The second advent came in August 26, 2005, when an enterprising UK student named Alex Tew deployed his milliondollarhomepage on the web. Since then, pixel ad sites have been sprouting on the Net, to the tune of 8 web sites a day. There are now more than 500 web sites selling pixel ads on the web.
Has pixel advertising caught fire this time around?
My own guess is that it would be too early to tell.
If you ask the pixel ad site owners, most of them will declare that this form of advertising is here to stay. The acknowledged originator of the pixel ad idea has a different view, however. In the words of the milliondollarhomepage creator Alex Tew:
"Is this a new trend in advertising? Personally, I think not. I believe this idea is a one-off that will only really work once. It's only unique the first time. However, there may be some future mileage in this 'pixel advertising' or 'micro-ads' concept in terms of fundraising for charities or other good causes. But of course, only time will tell."
Advertiser's how-to in placing pixel ads:
Below are key steps in placing your pixel ad.
First, select the best pixel ad web site. Because pixel ad sites are relatively new, most of them do not as yet earn a pagerank from Google. Much less do they rate high with Alexa.
I can only site a couple of web sites with good Google PageRank, where you can place your pixel ad.
One web site is the milliondollarhomepage by Alex Tew with a PR7. Another site is SEO expert Brad Fallon's blog site with a PR6. (And if you allow me, my own web site could possibly be mentioned, the internetmarketinglearningcenter.com, with a PR4.)
Second, choose or select the appropriate image to be displayed on the ad space. The key is to have lower pixels for your image.
Third, select the appropriate "alt tag" for your image. The alt tag is the text that hovers on your image when your mouse's cursor points to the image. This is the text that the visitor reads when visiting the ad site.
Fourth, determine how much would you want to spend for your pixel advertising. Higher ranked and much visited sites command higher rates.
Fifth, choose a site with good content.
Sixth, do your own research on the site you plan to place your ad. As in most endeavors, there's no substitute for a well planned activity.
Rick Tanzo is the creator of http://www.internetmarketinglearningcenter.com, a PR4 homepage which offers a low cost pixel ads. Site freebies include Internet marketing and home business resources, free software, free articles, free classified guide, and more.