The Million Word Site

Pixelotto looks like it might be picking up but MMMZR has fallen at the first hurdle with its founder crying off citing losses and complaining about lawyer’s fees. So what’s next from the flurry of ‘magic traffic driving’ sites?

The latest on the bandwagon is New Yorker Itzhak Schier aka ZiQui Million and the Million Word Site. It’s easy: you pay $8 (set to rise when he’s sold 700 words) for a word, any word you like in any language. You then ‘own’ this word on the website and use it to link to wherever you like or attach a message to the word.

Schier has high hopes for his baby according to a press release: “Al Gore may not have invented the Internet, but I just might be able to say that I invented it all over again!”

It seems unlikely. The bewildering layout, impenetrable jargon, the ‘distinctive’ shade of green and clunky functionality (I got so many errors trying to buy a word I gave up) don’t make this a site that immediately excites the viewer in the same way that the Million Dollar Homepage did. It’s also difficult to understand what’s in it for the buyer when their word is buried in a pile of hundreds of thousands: just one entry in a huge dictionary.

Three word verdict: unlikely to succeed.

5 thoughts on “The Million Word Site”

  1. Totally agree: nice idea, utterly appalling implementation.

    I bought “beads” yesterday more by luck than actually being able to see what I was supposed to do, and then spent about an hour trying to actually make it link to something. To be fair, the guy who owns the site is pretty on the ball, and responded both to my cries for help and my list of things I thought he ought to change very quickly and fairly positively. He does seem to have some major changes in the pipeline, though I’m concerned that they are primarily adding extra functionality rather than fixing the crap that’s already there. (Sounds just like eBay ]:) )

    When he said “what do you think I ought to change”, I had to bite my tongue very hard not to say “everything”.

  2. Hi! ZiQui here!

    Yes, I am very aware that the present beta site has to be revamped and we are working on it (not just adding extra functionality by any means). And the search functions and other extras will make it very easy to find any word you want or just have fun browsing.

    As for the errors you got while trying to buy a word, did you do so during the server changeover on Thursday? I had posted different announcements, but at one point the domain was being shifted between the old and new name server and some people did not see the announcements. If so please try again, and pls do it FAST because people rightfully believe in us and are buying words during this clunky beta phase rather than waiting until all the good stuff is gone and/or I raise prices to the full post-beta level.

    If it was at another time, can I ask you a favor – by all means try again anyway as we are on a far better server, but if you do remember what error messages you got, could you pls send the error messages that you received to me on ziqui@millionwordsite.com?

    Oh – and as for the color, in about 72 hours you will be able to choose between a few colors and layouts :).

  3. Hi. ZiQui here:

    1) The present site will be TOTALLY revamped as we get more and more popular and indeed we are revising it as opposed to just adding functionality.

    2) Search functions and other features will make sure that your word does not get buried; also you will have many opportunities to make sure “your word gets heard.”

    3) Did you try to buy a word on Thursday during our server change by any chance? As “biddy” correctly pointed out to me privately, the server we were using for development was not up to snuff and I changed it as promised. However, when I posted announcements to that effect, it became evident that some surfers did not see the information because as is the case when a server changes, the domain was pointing to 2 different name servers for a few crucial hours and I had access to my site via only one of them.

    Please try again, and/or if you remember the error messages you got, pls send them to me at ziqui@millionwordsite.com. Thanks.

    4) As for the color scheme, in about 72 hours you will have a choice of colors and layouts :).

    I think that you will soon rescind your verdict of “unlikely to succeed” which you based on the present beta site and its technical faults; as more words are sold this site will be bound for stellar success. Oh, and get your words at the beta price because a lot of the good ones won’t be available for long :).

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