In the vast digital frontier, just about anything goes. Just ask British college student Alex Tew.

Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Above: Steve Kaplan, of Westport, Conn., a junior at Carnegie Mellon University, visits his Web site, nickelsforkatrina.org, at the computer lab at the Hunt Library on the CMU campus. Mr. Kaplan, along with fellow CMU junior Keith Torluemke, of Redondo Beach, Calif., is using the site to sell advertising space to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Below: Ads on www.milliondollarhomepage.com take on all shapes, sizes and colors. Click photos for larger image.

Capitalizing on one of the latest trends, Web sites that act as an electronic billboard of sorts, he launched www.milliondollarhomepage.com in August, selling individual pixels -- the tiny dot of color on a computer screen that composes the image -- for $1 each.

Mr. Tew claims his scheme, which lets buyers purchase any number of pixels to display their logo, which then links viewers to their own Web site, has raised more than $672,000 -- more than enough to cover his tuition bill.

His success has not gone unnoticed. A slew of copycat sites are popping up on the Web these days, including one set up last month by Carnegie Mellon University juniors Steven Kaplan, of Westport, Conn., and Keith Torluemke, of Redondo Beach, Calif.

But CMU students say their goal is more gracious than simply cashing in on the Web's latest money-making formula -- the pair simply want to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina victims. "This is a great opportunity to raise money for people who need it," said Mr. Kaplan.

The duo are selling pixels on their Web site, www.nickelsforkatrina.org, for 5 cents each in boxes of 100 -- $5 for a box of pixels. "You can't display anything meaningful on just one pixel," Mr. Kaplan noted.

So far, their Web site has raised $2,555 -- a ways off from the $50,000 they are gunning for. The problem, according to Mr. Kaplan, is getting traffic to the site.

Much of Mr. Tew's success came from his Web site's novelty. Shortly after its inception, the media and blogging worlds pounced on it, heralding its cleverness. Accounts of Mr. Tew's near instant success were often followed by, "Why didn't I think of this?"

But it was ultimately a brilliant idea with a short life span. Many of the visitors to milliondollarhomepage.com were the curious and envious, surfing onto the site with advertisers trailing them in search of an audience to view their logos.

Mr. Tew reportedly had nearly 40,000 unique visitors -- different people visiting the site -- every day. Since then, it's been increasingly difficult for money-hungry followers to capture the similar buzz.

Mr. Kaplan is hoping charity might be different, but he's found luring a stampede of Web traffic isn't easy. Shortly after nickelsforkatrina.org was launched, the pixel advertising frenzy died down and Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Torluemke are now looking for new ways to create buzz.

The trouble could ultimately lie in the method. In the long run, say online marketing experts, there's little value to pixel advertising.

What was a hot fad during the summer and fall is now winding down. Pixel ads, not unlike Lance Armstrong's "Livestrong" yellow rubber bracelets, for a short time were an online rage, according to Gary Stein, a senior analyst at San Francisco-based Jupiter Research. In one moment, everyone's doing it and then, poof!, they are gone.

The biggest challenge is bringing viewers to the site.

"You can't really see the ads," Mr. Stein said of the pixel approach. If the Web site accomplishes its goal, filling up with myriad names and logos, the ads become almost indecipherable, a mosaic of color.

While a mosaic may be a good way to honor charitable donors -- a massing of colorful names and logos create an attractive visual -- that's all that pixel ads can offer, said Abu Noaman, chief executive officer of Elliance.com, a North Side-based online marketing firm. He likened pixel advertising to a lotus flower in the Himalayas. "It's beautiful but isolated. It doesn't have marketing value at this point."

Exposure is what advertisers need. After all, it isn't well-known "superbrands" such as Microsoft and Wal-Mart whose logos are showcased on Web sites such as Mr. Tew's and Mr. Kaplan's. The advertisers are more eclectic with more venal intentions -- online gambling operators, hypnotists, free audio books, even land developers.

Mr. Kaplan counters that pixel advertising's cheap do-it-yourself rates are still worth a minor investment. A mere $5, he said, is a small price to pay even if only one customer comes of it.

But that's assuming that all pixel ads are legitimate. In the age of rampant Internet scams and identify theft, buyers are advised to do their research before paying to have their names in lights.

Mr. Noaman said most of his clients would be loath to pay any amount when there is no guarantee of a "sure shot" return. "People are expecting to give and get at the same time," he said. "They want to gain exposure."

But Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Torluemke aren't giving up. They're using personal contacts to sell ad space on the Web site and to persuade advertisers and bloggers to post links to nickelsforkatrina.org on their own Web pages. Mr. Kaplan said they'd soon send off their first check to the American Red Cross, even if it is well below their ultimate goal.