# What is The Million Dollar Homepage?

> The Million Dollar Homepage (2005) sold 1,000,000 pixels at $1 each in 10×10 blocks, selling out in five months for $1.04M. Facts, legacy, how Square Town differs.

Source: https://square.pov.town/glossary/million-dollar-homepage

**The Million Dollar Homepage** (milliondollarhomepage.com) is the 2005 web page by Alex Tew that sold its 1,000,000 pixels as advertising at **$1 per pixel** in **10×10 blocks** ($100 minimum). Each block shows an image, links out and has a tooltip. It sold out in **five months** for **$1.04 million**, with the last 1,000 pixels auctioned for **$38,100**. It is the origin of [pixel advertising](/glossary/pixel-advertising) and the mental model behind every pixel wall since — including Square Town ([square.pov.town](/)), which sells favicons instead of pixels for $1 a square.

> **At a glance (as of August 2026):** 2005 · $1/pixel · 10×10 blocks · sold out in 5 months · $1.04M · last 1,000 px for $38,100 · frozen archive · roughly 40 % of links dead.

## What it is today

The page is a sold-out, frozen archive. Nothing has been sold there since it sold out, nothing moves, and about 40 % of the links point at sites that no longer exist — a useful reminder that in [internet real estate](/glossary/internet-real-estate) the record outlives the tenant. It remains online as a monument, not a place. Alex Tew's follow-up, Pixelotto (2006, $2/pixel with clicks entered into a $1M lottery, $153k paid out), is dead. A 20th-anniversary clone launched in 2025 died within a year.

## How Square Town differs

| | The Million Dollar Homepage | Square Town |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 2005 | 2026 |
| Unit | Pixels, 10×10 blocks, $100 minimum | One 1×1 square, $1 |
| What's shown | Uploaded image + link + tooltip | Your site's favicon, fetched from the URL |
| Status | Sold out; frozen | Live; grows in [rings](/glossary/ring-unlock) up to 1,048,576 squares |
| Can you lose a spot? | No | Yes — [eviction](/glossary/eviction) for double |
| Live / 3D | Static image | WebSocket-live; 3D [click towers](/glossary/click-tower) |

The design difference is the reason to come back: MDH was a one-time news event, and its hundreds of clones copied the grid but not the news. Square Town's answer is a game loop — evictions, one [Throne](/glossary/the-throne), 90-day decay, ring unlocks — on a wall that is cheap enough to run forever. Full comparison: [/vs/million-dollar-homepage](/vs/million-dollar-homepage); other options: [/alternatives/million-dollar-homepage](/alternatives/million-dollar-homepage).

## Example

A 2005 buyer paid $100 for a 10×10 block, uploaded a logo nobody could read at that size, and got a tooltip. Twenty-one years later the block is still there and, four times in ten, the link behind it is dead. On Square Town the same $100 would buy 100 legible favicon squares — or the Throne, once.

## FAQ

### How much did The Million Dollar Homepage make?

$1,037,100 in total, usually rounded to $1.04 million: 999,000 pixels at $1 each plus $38,100 for the last 1,000 pixels at auction.

### Who made it?

Alex Tew, in 2005. His 2006 sequel Pixelotto added a click lottery and is now dead.

### Is The Million Dollar Homepage still online?

Yes, as a frozen archive. It sold out within five months of its 2005 launch, and roughly 40 % of its links are dead as of August 2026.

### Can I still buy pixels there?

No. It is sold out. The 2026 descendants — $1-square walls, pay-to-rank boards and Square Town's favicon wall — are where the genre lives now.