From the “I wish I had thought of it first” file:

This one’s been around for a short while now, but it looks like it’s winding down: The Million Dollar Homepage. So, first you’re amazed that folks are paying $1 per pixel to advertise on this guy’s page. Then you’re amazed at just how friggin’ many folks have actually done it, apparently getting the creator to the $1 million mark he shot for. Impressive, very impressive. Then you start thinking, “Damn, why didn’t I think of this?” Then you start thinking, “Damn, I could rip this off!” Then you start looking at the ads, figuring out who you should target first. Then you realize a fairly large percentage (i.e. greater than 1%) of the multitude of ads are for (drum roll, please)…

PIXEL ADS FROM COPY CATS!

It’s so meta it’s making my head hurt… pixel ads on a pixel ad site, apparently the original, advertising pixel space for pixel ads for another pixel ad site. Click on one of those ads and what do you see? Maybe three or four ads and a whoooole lot of nothing in between? My favorite is the one promoting “affordable pixel ad space”. Love it.

The most clever, in my opinion? First, find Waldo on the page, then click him. Great use of both an old meme (where’s Waldo?), a relatively cheap pixel ad, and the Amazon Affiliate Program. I wonder how that person is doing on that.