Interview with MegaPixelPuzzle.

First of please introduce yourself and your site to our readers?

My name is Vince Wansink and I’m just a regular guy with a wife and two kids, a house in the burbs and a 9 to 5 job. My partner is Mark Janzen who is a co-worker of mine and also supports a family. We’ve done a number of projects together but this one is the most exciting so far.

Most people have been inspired by the Million Dollar Homepage, where did you get your inspiration from?

Of course the MillionDollarHomepage was our initial inspiration but the hidden painting puzzle twist on our site is more a reflection of our love for games and mysteries.

What software do you use to run your pixel page and why did you choose it?

We wrote our own software because that is what we do for a living and it was easy enough to do.

What makes your site different or special, what angle have you taken for your Pixel page?

Many sites have some kind of picture on the ad space, whether it be a simple photo or a famous piece of art, which gets covered up as ads are placed. Our site is exactly the opposite. Our site has a hidden painting behind the pixel space and as ads are placed the painting is revealed bit by bit. To me it doesn’t make much sense to me to cover up the one thing that makes your site interesting. So we decided to build it in such a way that as the ads accumulate the page gets more and more interesting. If this alone is not interesting enough for you, how about a $4,000 US cash prize for the first person to tell us the name of the painting and the artist? The contest opens once 50% of the painting has been revealed.

The original pixel page generated traffic mainly through viral marketing mainly spawned by media interest, how do you generate traffic to your site?

Word of mouth will be the most important marketing tool for our site. Interviews such as these will help to get the word out but it’s the excitement the site will generate by giving away $4,000 cash that will get people talking. You have to stand out in a crowd and pixel ad marketing right now is extremely crowded. I believe the megapixelpuzzle is the most exciting ad page out there right now and I’m sure once people learn what it’s all about most will agree.

What do you offer potential advertisers, how much do you charge and how much traffic do you envisage an advertiser could generate by advertising with you?

The pixels cost $1 each and although it is too early to predict the amount of traffic the site will generate we’re confident that the uniqueness and the $4,000 contest will draw a huge amount of interest in the site. What we offer advertisers is a chance to be a part of the most innovative twist in pixel ad marketing anyone has ever seen. Each ad will become a part of a mosaic of ads that together will form the image of a world famous painting. When viewed up close the page will just look like a bunch of ads on a page not much different from other pixel ad sites but step back from your computer screen about 10 to 15 feet and you will be amazed by what you see. Suddenly the image of this painting will become crystal clear and as it is completed it will draw millions of curious visitors from all over the world. I like to call it the first truly globally collaborative painting of art. The site will stay up for a minimum of five years but likely much longer.

Currently the top 5 Alexa ranked pixel sites enjoy a lot of interest from the public. How long do you think this will last, is there a long term future for pixel pages?

Long term, the pixel pages will still be around but they will have evolved. People get bored easily. That is the part of human nature that forces us to constantly progress. In order for pixel sites to remain attractive to advertisers they will have to find ways to become interesting again. They will have to get creative and they will have to be unique. That is the sole reason the MillionDollarHomePage was a success. It was a very unusual and unique idea. We believe the MegaPixelPuzzle is equally unique as it combines pixel advertising with not just the display of art but the creation of art.

Besides your own pixel page, which other pixel page do you secretly admire and why?

I have looked at hundreds of pixel sites out there and truthfully the only one I admire is the original MillionDollarHomePage and that is because he was creative and he was unique. Most pixel sites out there are simple copy cats. Some have tried to be creative with their pixel pages but they fall far from the mark and thus far I’ve seen nothing with that extra special something that I would admire.

Thanks for your time in answering these questions. Before you go are there any comments you want to impart to our pixel hungry readership?

Just one thing. If you plan on advertising on a pixel page, choose something original and choose the Mega Pixel Puzzle.