It started with a small thing and then grew into a complex ecosystem. No, it's not the universe, or the Earth. It's TheSpoof.com. Sometime in the distant past, um ... past 7 years, a lone writer wrote the first spoof on TheSpoof.com. That tiny spoof has spawned thousands upon thousands of spoof news articles of little consequence.
Until now. After years of trite, banal, and otherwise worthless writing by stars of TheSpoof.com, it took a little known writer named ScottTheDot to bring actual recognition to this motley horde. In a piece about the videogame Spore, ScottTheDot has elevated TheSpoof.com to a new and scary place. His story was quoted in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, September 19, 2008. A date that will live in insobriety.
"It's quite troubling," said TheSpoof's owner Mark Lowton, "we just don't know what to do with all this attention." Web analytics software shows that the mention led to a spike in traffic at TheSpoof.com, with an additional 40 visits on Friday. While this spike was dwarfed by the Sarah Palin Nude phenomenon, it's the quality of the new visits that makes a difference.
The addition of 40 Wall Street Journal readers, though only 1% of the total readership, tripled the average income demographic of the site. Advertising on the site, which optimizes itself, has shifted as a result. Previously dominated by ads for Budweiser, Hyundai cars, shoplifting lawyers, and porn websites, the site's profile has changed dramatically to ads for Dom Perrignon, BMWs, white collar criminal defense, and gay porn websites. "It's raised our eCPM from 10p to 50p in the last day," reported Lowton.
Despite all the fanfare, ScottTheDot continues to toil in obscurity. A small, old man living in Worcestershire, neighbors say he's always "on the sauce." ScottTheDot did not return calls for comments. His agent said he's working on a book deal and drinking heavily.
