Square Town for local businesses: a $1 favicon on the internet's town square

Your customers are three streets away. The wall is everywhere else. Still, it's a dollar.

Square Town (square.pov.town) is a favicon wall — the internet's town square — where every 1×1 square costs $1 once and shows the favicon of the URL you paste. For a café, bar, shop or studio it is a fun, cheap thing to do with your website: your icon on a live, 3D wall that people from everywhere scroll and fight over. It is not local marketing. Nobody on the wall is looking for a bakery near them. But it costs a dollar, takes five minutes, and comes with an honest click counter.

TL;DR — Square Town is mostly for indie developers and side projects, and we'll say so. A local business gets the same thing they do: a permanent favicon, a click-through, per-square counts, a tower in 3D, and a small game. Expect curiosity clicks, not customers. No SEO value, no traffic promise, evictable for double.

The problem (and why Square Town only half solves it)#

A local business's online presence is a Google Business Profile, a map pin, an Instagram, maybe a website that a nephew built. The website's job is to show opening hours and a menu; almost nobody arrives at it from anywhere but Maps or Instagram.

Square Town doesn't change that. The people scrolling the wall are spread across the world and mostly interested in software and small internet things. What Square Town offers a local business is different: a bit of fun, a place to point at, a story for the counter ("we own a square on the internet, it cost a dollar"), and honest numbers on how many strangers clicked. If that sounds pointless to you, it probably is, and you should keep the dollar. If it sounds like a laugh, read on.

What a $1 square gives you#

The wall is live for everyone: when your square lands, it appears in every open browser and in the event feed. That is your fifteen seconds.

How to do it#

1. Check that your website has a favicon. That is the little icon in the browser tab. Many small-business sites — especially template sites and menu-only pages — have none or use the site builder's default. Without one, Square Town shows a clown emoji on your square and lists your site in the Hall of Clowns. Fixing it takes minutes; see how to add a favicon.
2. Open square.pov.town in a browser (it needs JavaScript and WebGL, so a laptop or a modern phone). Hover the live area; empty cells highlight. The gold 4×4 in the centre is the Throne — leave it alone unless you enjoy spending $100 on a joke.
3. Click an empty cell, paste your website address, and look at the preview. If it shows your logo, good. If it shows a clown, stop and fix the favicon first.
4. Pay $1 by card. Payment is through Stripe; there is no account, no subscription, nothing to cancel.
5. Save the deed URL you land on. It is the only proof you own the square — there is no login and no password reset. Bookmark it or paste it into wherever you keep the website's details.
6. Optionally unlock analytics for $5 one-time from the deed page if you want per-day view and click charts. For most local businesses the free totals are plenty.

Tips#

• Pick a spot near the Throne if you want to be seen — the camera starts centred and the live area is only 16×16 at launch (it grows by 8 in every direction each time it is 70 % full).
• Kiss your icon now and then. An icon nobody has kissed for 90 days fades to grayscale (still yours, just grey). Anyone can kiss any icon free — click it, press 💋. Ask a regular to do it.
• Keep the favicon. If you rebuild the site and the icon disappears, the clown returns until you add it back and press "I fixed my favicon".
• Use your real logo as the favicon. A recognisable mark at 16 pixels beats a tiny photograph. See favicon design tips at 16 px.
• Save the deed URL. Losing it means losing the counts and the recheck button; the square itself stays.
• Don't buy it as advertising. Buy it because it's fun. If someone evicts you for $2, that's a story too.

What it won't do#

• No SEO value. The wall is a WebGL canvas and clicks are 302 redirects. A square does not help your site rank locally or anywhere else. Your Google Business Profile matters a hundred times more.
• No customers. Square Town's audience is global and mostly interested in software. Expect curiosity clicks from people who will never visit your shop.
• No traffic guarantees. Some squares get clicked a lot; many don't. The deed page shows the truth.
• You can be evicted. Anyone can take your square by paying double what you paid ($1 → $2), announced in the live feed. You can take it back for double again or buy another cell for $1.
• It's not a listing. No address, no hours, no map — a favicon and a link. Your website does the rest.

For who Square Town is actually built for, see Square Town for indie hackers and how it works.

FAQ#

Should a local business buy a square on Square Town?#

Only for fun. It costs $1 one-time and gives you a permanent favicon on a live 3D wall with click counts, but the audience is global and not looking for local shops. Treat it as a novelty, not marketing.

Will a square on Square Town bring customers to my café or shop?#

Almost certainly not. Expect a few curiosity clicks from strangers around the world. Your Google Business Profile, Maps listing and social accounts do the real work.

Does it help my website rank on Google?#

No. Clicks are 302 redirects from a JavaScript canvas; there is no backlink or link equity involved.

How much does it cost and is there a subscription?#

$1 per square, one-time, by card through Stripe. No account, no subscription, no renewal. Per-day analytics is an optional $5 one-time. The Throne in the centre starts at $100 and doubles at every eviction.

What if my website has no favicon?#

Square Town shows a clown emoji on your square and lists your site publicly in the Hall of Clowns until you add a favicon and press the recheck button. Add one before buying.

What happens if someone evicts my square?#

They pay double what you paid, your icon comes off, and the live feed announces it. You can evict them back for double their price or buy any empty cell for $1.

Can I put two locations or two brands on the wall?#

Yes. Every square is 1×1 and you pick the cell, so buy adjacent squares, one per website. Each gets its own deed and its own counts.