• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, February 21, 2006

It had all the makings of a cautionary tale. A 21-year-old entrepreneur named Alex Tew from Wiltshire, U.K., concocted a scheme to sell $1 million worth of ad space on the individual pixels of a single Web page. Gimmick-obsessed advertisers shilling poker and ringtones snatched up every last pixel, making Tew an instant millionaire and inspiring a rash of media coverage and copycat sites like "Million Dollar Advertiser" and 1000tags.com.

All this hoopla caught the unwelcome eye of online extortionists, who crashed Tew's "Million Dollar Homepage" after he refused to cough up a $50,000 ransom. The site went back up six days later, but the FBI got involved and lawsuits are pending, because the crash technically broke the site's contract with advertisers. The deals ensured advertisers that the site would stay live and uninterrupted for the next five years.

Of the experience, Tew says: "The site has changed my life...in the sense that it has confirmed to me the power of creativity, that ideas work. It's proof that if we are willing to think a little deeper, there are often magical solutions waiting for us. It's been a roller coaster for five months."