UPDATE - In a statement to my ISP made between 14-16 Jan Mr Garty of Cybostar UK states:
'I have spent the last 24 hours with the help of a web designer, minimising all descriptions and changing features on the
site to give this individual no room for criticism of my site. I have removed ads that were paid for and advised those
individuals that they shall receive a full refund. I have apologised for embroiling innocent people in this demeaning scandal.'
I applaud Mr Garty's efforts to do the right thing - now what about the legal proceedings you are instigating against me?
Legally his first option should have been to should approach me identifying any factually incorrect information and ask me to correct or remove it.
Note The contents of this page refer to their website 31/12/06, by the 14th January they seem to have given up on their scheme, changed their website and then threatened legal action against my service provider (note not me) unless they took this page down by 17th Jan. The information below is therefore a matter of historical record but will change certainly as soon as Mr Garty decides to identify what exactly, if anything, was/is inaccurate.
Dance Pixel was a variant of the Million dollar Website in which people purchased pixels in order to advertise their websites.
This was wildly successful because it was a new idea and generated a lot of publicity. The Million dollar website succeeded
because of novelty, people visited it because of the publicity and basically played around clicking on pixels at random to
see where they arrived.
Can another site of that type succeed? Well, so far none have because, frankly, the basic idea
is impractical - there can only be one site of that type because its success was driven by the novelty of the idea and the
world-wide publicity it generated. Other people have tried to copy the idea and failed. So here we have a 'firm' touting the
same idea in the DanceSport scene (where many people are not web wise) and making some remarkable claims.
The following people have not bought pixels as the site claimed on 31/12/06 and do not endorse the site : EADA (plus 2 other unnamed sites known to EADA), Tim Howsen, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, British Dance Council, the British Dance Federation and the Blackpool Dance Festival.
A worthless link from an unknown site. Think about it, if people did come across the site, what is the chance
that they would click on any link? There are 1,000,000 pixels being sold in blocks resulting in say 1000 links each
identified by a button and why should anyone push any particular button? It is extremely unlikely that it would generate any
extra traffic for any one particular site. Those who appear on the initial screen may get some, but the links off screen stand
very little chance of getting any traffic.
Ok, the search engine will recognise the link as a link but is likely to recognise the site as a link farm and ban it. If it
does not, the site needs hundreds of links to point to it to be recognised as an important site and so the value of the
link will be zilch.
cybostar.com is registered to the address on the Dance Pixel contact page and was created on 08 Nov 2006 15:44:46. It claims to be 'an organisation specialising in a range of online services'. I coould not find in Google except in relation to Dance Pixel. It has no history and no credibility. The website redirects to dancepixel.com.
dancepixel.co.uk was created on 06-Dec-2006 by the owner of Cybostar. Apart from that we know nothing other than their claims which cannot be verified. No about us, no direct references to what they do in the DanceSport or even dance world. A lot about how to pay them, though.
Firstly the method of contact - an unsolicited email with a 'hidden' destination address (ie apparantly not sent to an interfolk.co.uk address but
to a dancepixel address). This seems to be a common technique of the spammers of the internet thhough why they
do it is beyond me and to me indicates untrustworthy intentions. There is no reason why a genuine business should
resort to such methods.
Also if they are advertising themselves as 'UK Ballroom Dancing Pixel Page Blackpool Dance Festival Services'
why are they approaching folk dance groups, hotels, tourist sites, online shops etc? A quick check of the website set alarm
bells ringing. Some of the claims the site made looked deceptive. From the info page (31/12/2006):
'Dance Pixel strictly prohibits our publishers from linking to us without our consent. This ensures that our inventory
sites remain anonymous' - which sort of defeats the object of the exercise. Without incoming links, the site will be
seen as unimportant. Of course these means that the high profile people such as the BBC that they claim to have bought pixels
are prohibited from showing their support otherwise I am sure they would be telling everyone about the site.
'All offers are non-binding and without obligation. Parts of the pages or the complete publication including all offers
and information might be extended, changed, or partly completely or deleted by the author without separate announcement.'
On this date it was claimed that 140,200 pixels were purchased. The Pixel list lists all the sites and their blocks of pixels
which total 140,200. Hence all the listed organisations bought pixels. Because the claims they make include untrue and unverifiable statements. Because the scheme has been demonstrated to fail
except in the one unique special case. Because they stand to make a lot of money for doing very little. Because of their
sales methods. Because they want to charge 10p a word for things that other people give away free. Because their blurb is
trading on peoples gullibility. Because all these organisations may have bought advertising.
Secondly they could be experts on the internet who can back up their claims of fame and increased traffic on the internet. It is
possible however I believe it is unlikely. Two ways - Firstly email the organisations listed and see if they did indeed purchase pixels. If they did then fine. Sounds a stupid question but look at my site - you can see I have a history of being involved in dance. We've been organising
weekend workshops for years, my wife is involved in organising the Eastbourne festival, the editor of the SIFD News, I have
made webpages for other folk dance clubs on my site (and for free) etc etc. Google for International Folk Dancing there is
interfolk.co.uk. Google for 'john folk dancing', there I am. Google for 'Janet Folk dancing' and my wife is there. You can see I am a
dance enthusiast and obviously know a bit about the internet and site promotion. Note I am preparing pages on site promotion
which will hand out for free my knowledge which will be added to the site once I've completed it. 'Dance Pixel has been very successful in bringing people and organisations involved in dancing, closer together onto one
simple page, ' - Anyone can put links together on a page. 'Dance Pixel is offering you everything you ever wanted on one webpage' - untrue 'offering you low-cost high-profile advertising to a large audience of fellow Dance Sport associates from around the globe.'
an unsubstiated claim that cannot be guarenteeed
The biggest block of 15,200 was bought by Blackpool Dance Festival Services who cannot be found on the internet and whose website
is ... dancepixel.co.uk! Oh and Cybostar Services bought 900 pixels for their website cybostar.com that redirects to dancepixel.co.uk
There are a number of non-dance sites (eg 5 hotels, 1 web design company, 1 wedding photographer, 8 tourist attractions,
a limosine sevice, an airport and an on-line shop selling ?sweaters?).
Of course the really important purchasers are the BBC who bought 2 sets of pixels, the Imperial Society of Teachers of
Dancing, the International Dance Sport Federation, the British Dance Council, the Balloom Dancers Federation, the World
Dance Council, the English Amateur Dance Association, the British Association of Teachers of Dancing , the International
Dance Teacher Association, and so on and most on the same day (17/12/2006)!!! And isn't it great that all those
famous people bought pixels on the same and following days!!!!
Because it is a classic 'pyramid' selling ploy. Since all these prestigious organisations have bought advertising, they then
can then sell adverts to ordinary people based on the endorsements that these organisations bestow by their custom. Because
these people buy, then more people believe that it is a good thing and therefore buy. Hence if these organisations did not
purchase advertising as claimed, it is nothing but a fraud.Why Is it Not Necessarily a Scam?
How Can We find out if Dance Pixel is a Scam?
Secondly, this is a simple page on my site which will be picked up by Google et all over the next few weeks. It will appears in the
search engine results. To make their claim good, all they have to do is appear above it for longer than two months.Who Am I?
Dubious Claims in the Received Email
'while advertising UK dance services' - they've been in existance for less than a month.
'Pixel ads are a recent invention and have become notoriously popular with website hits multiplied threefold'
- untrue. The results for the million dollar website are unique. How many other sites are there like it?
'Through placing an ad on Dance Pixel your online presence will simply amplify overnight.'
- unsubstantiated but we can check that with purchasers.
'The site is a page one link on google' - I couldn't find it under dance - of course it is number 1 for Dance Pixel.
'and is also advertised in dance publications bringing you additional free publicity.' - which ones? the site says
'will be' not 'is'. Unless they list all of the advertisers in the publicity, it is not you that gets it but the site.
Dubious Claims on the Dance Pixel Info Page (31/12/2006)
'our innovative idea' - the basic idea is not innovative, finding a different market is.
'Learn the advantage of promoting your service' - How can dance pixel teach you anything?
'while giving your venture that winning edge.' - Dance Pixel cannot claim to do so - no one can.
'our low-cost high-profile advertising campaign' - high profile? I can't find them on the internet anywhere. At the
moment a month after launch, the only link they have is from themselves. My site was linked to by 10 other sites and was No
1 in Google for International folk dancing in 3 weeks.
'advertised in Dance News and the Blackpool Dance Festival programme in addition to other mediums,' - hardly high
profile. My website is advertised in the ODP, by the BBC, Wikipedia, and around the world
' including popular online search engines' - these do not advertise people. They present the result of their searches.
Of course he could mean they will pay for sponsered links. This does mean that they will be aware of the success or otherwise
of the campaign as they pay per click. If there are no click-thru's to the site, they will not be charged.
'you will allow dancers and associates around the globe' - true but why on earth would they do so?
'new and innovative virtual forum is a labour of love' - there is no forum and no innovation. Pesonally I think
it is a means of raising money by hook or by crook especially as we immediately are told how to pay - the most detailed part
of this page.Dubious Claims on the Dance Pixel FAQ Page (31/12/2006)
'Advertising in this forum will most certainly have a definite positive impact on your website audience and service.'
- an unsubstiated claim that cannot be guarenteed.
'The most important thing about our website visitors is that they are targeted to the world of Dance Sport and therefore
highly relevant to yours.' - what visitors? how many? Who would want to visit the site?
'As visitors arrive, they will hover over images with their mouse.' - or say 'sod this for a lark, I'm off elsewhere'
'A blog is additional free text space' - Blogspace is provided free by thousands of providers.
'You can purchase blog space at a cost of 10p per word up to a maximum of 200 words.' - hang on, it is supposed to be free.
'Dance Pixel will exist indefinitely' unsubstantiatable claim
'remain permanently on the site in chronological order for 3 years. ' - 3 years is not permanent
'Cybostar.com, an organisation specialising in a range of online services.' Cybostar.com created 08 Nov 2006, can't find them on the internet
'Is Dance Pixel Cybostar UK a Scam?'