Ideas

How about getting civilians to hunt down the FBI's 10 most wanted while we're at it?

I love it but how does it pay the bills?

IOUs?... =)

One of those ideas where its hard to judge before its implemented since everything will depend on how well the idea is implemented. I see lots of ideas posted for BUILDING A WEBSITE AROUND TOPIC XYZ. Its hard to get too enthused because all one needs to do to get the ball rolling is just start building the site.

It seems to me that if someone does the research and learns where treasure might be then they probably wouldn't want to share that information with others.

Arrrr...there be pirates sailing the rough seas of the internets, and they be wantin' to steal your booty.

Like it be how do you get contectn?
Tommy

The only way to make money at this would be to charge a subscription and secondly web traffic (i.e. advertising for metal detectors etc). It is do able and a small niche. If you encorporated google maps with it and allowed people to make there info private but allowed the users to charge to let others see there treasure maps but you take a cut of the peak price then this would rock. It would be like real treasure hunting then. Work the idea some more because I think it has potential. Good luck and let me know if you want some input.

Since there are enough advertisers to support print versions of treasure hunting magazines it should be possible to monetize this niche site.

The general locations of many legendary (and real) lost treasures are well-known, so fixing points on a google map for each one should not be too hard.

For every one of these stories there is a small community of treasure hunters, so if you allowed for user generated content, public and private groups, maps etc you could develop a loyal following.

Likely advertisers: metal detector manufacturers, GPS manufacturers, SUV's, diving equipment companies, local guides etc.

There is $ 11 Billion worth of treasure sunk in the Ocean worldwide. Plus the treasure lost in time on land. As Tommy said - Content?

As GordonMcDowell pointed out: "ideas posted for BUILDING A WEBSITE AROUND TOPIC XYZ" are kind of missing the point. If you are going to build a site with a certain set of functionality, why not build the system and then allow anybody with an interest that fits the functionality build a site on it.

If ebay limited the site to only buying and selling car parts for instance, would it be as successful? Think big and then attenuate until you have a workable idea, at least then you have a vague roadmap for next steps.

neat idea

Firefox.

You can multiply that number by xxxx billion. How many ancient unknown ships have been lost at sea with priceless goods just waiting to be found in the future? For instance China is just about now getting serious about finding countless lost trade-ships with priceless porcelain etc. The mongolian fleets lost at sea. Napoleon etc.etc.etc. That is just the ships, not the lost cities etc.

The web needs a powerful and updated treasure-site that can be utilized by all those searching for treasure.

Best
Torgrot

I agree with Gordon's comment. It's not a stupid idea, so get out there, build it and see how it works.