Over at Bernie Online, there is an article regarding pixel advertising. Bernie describes the pixel advertising in general:

Pixel advertising consists of pixel space (usually a predetermined block) that is sold to webmasters or bloggers who want to link back to their sites.

Visit milliondollarhomepage.com to see an example. [But keep reading for an exciting alternative.]

Pixel advertisements form a mosaic of colorful banners that are linked to pixel buyers websites. This was a great idea when it first began, because there were so few sites offering pixel advertising. Therefore, the few sites were getting all of the curiosity hits.

But then he goes on to argue the limitations and primary weakness of conventional pixel advertising, and suggests his alternative: MicroBanner Mania.I agree with his analysis on conventional pixel advertising. But, I don’t really agree that MicroBanners are necessarily a definite improvement over conventional pixel advertising.

Weakness of conventional pixel advertising:

However, I see a fundamental problem that exists with this form of advertising: These sites seem to only attract other advertisers. If you’re promoting another pixel advertising site, this type of advertising may be a fit – though even that is rapidly becoming unpopular.

So, why am I bringing up this form of advertising, when it’s apparently an ineffective novelty that may be overdone and on its way out?

When pixel advertising was making its debut, I suspected there would be problems with it – for the buyer not the seller. The seller would do great. But the buyer’s (your) pixel advertisement would be lost is a disorganized sea of other advertisements (many mere schemes). And the people visiting the pixel site where your ad is displayed wouldn’t be interested readers, rather people looking to purchase pixel advertisements.

Bernie’s alternative:

So, I quickly invented a better way.

I started MicroBanner Mania™. It’s the very first banner advertising opportunity of its kind. Since it is headquartered on my well-established blog, it’s readily available to thousands of blog readers and eager people searching for actual content from their favorite search engines – not from a pool of advertisements.

You can avoid the shortcomings of pixel advertising by opting for a more organized and aesthetically pleasing approach – one that draws active readers who are looking to discover other points of interest on the net.

MicroBanner Mania™ is visited by intelligent reader traffic – not advertisers who are merely advertising to other advertisers – as found on most pixel advertising sites.

It’s fun and easy to add your site to MicroBanner Mania™. This is the very first site and form of advertising of its kind. Give your blog or website its place in history. Get your pixels now, before they’re gone!

Well, I’m sorry, but I really can’t see real fundamental differences between conventional pixel advertising and MicroBanner Mania. Besides the fact that MicroBanners are bigger than conventional pixels, they will still be visited primarily by those who want to advertise on that space. Generally, how many readers would want to click micro-banners that have zero description? How would readers differentiate between individual micro-banners?

In fact, conventional pixel advertising has its own merits. It must be pointed out that while the MicroBanners are hosted on a popular blog, the MicroBanners themselves are not the highlight of the site. This is rather unlike conventional pixel advertising where visitors (whether readers or advertisers) know exactly what they are there for.
Moreover, does it really matter if all the visitors there are advertisers if the advertisers themselves click the pixels? Given that pixel advertising allows far more places for adverts compared to MicroBanners, that means that there is scope for far more visitors, whether advertisers or otherwise.

At least, that’s my take on this.

pixel+advertising, microbanners, traffic

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