404 NotFound - when media space becomes really useful

Brussels, September 25, 2012 - Missing Children Europe (MCE) in cooperation with Child Focus, launches the NotFound project today. This initiative makes it possible to turn the ‘not found pages’ on the World Wide Web - the so called 404 error messages – into missing children messages. Knowing that there are more than 644 million websites worldwide and that Belgium alone has 1.3 million domain names, one soon realizes how much space these error messages occupy. Important companies such as RTL, Kapaza, 2dehands, 2ememain, sa IPM, Concentra, Roularta, De Persgroep, Corelio, Sanoma, VMMA, Q-Group, FM Brussel and SBS Belgium have already agreed to join this project, but MCE and Child Focus are urging all people and all businesses with a website to show their most supportive side.

Errors becoming opportunities
The 404 page is one of the most recognizable and most consulted pages on the web. It is also an inexhaustible source of frustration for those who just happen to land on one. Missing Children Europe and Child Focus have decided to make this hitherto useless space meaningful through the NotFound project.

Francis Herbert, Secretary-General of MCE : "The idea of ‌‌integrating missing person messages into 404 pages immediately seemed very interesting to us. We are always looking for new communication channels to distribute missing children messages and increase the chances to bring them home. "

Laurent Dochy, Digital Conceptor at Famous and creator of the NotFound project: "The 404-page is a cornerstone of the internet culture. An increasing number of websites designs have customized error pages that limit frustrations for the user. With the NotFound-project we are however taking this one step further by giving these pages a reason to exist. The next step came easily: Page not found, neither is this child”.

Call for solidarity
The aim of this project is to encourage as many people and businesses as possible to join this initiative via the www.notfound.org website. Maryse Roland, spokeswoman for Child Focus: " This project will allow us to once again concentrate the attention on children whom we haven't heard of for many years. These children risk to fall into oblivion. The choice of the shown missing persons message on the 404 page will be at random: it could be a recent disappearance, or on the contrary, a child that has been missing for a long time. We already have a few major partners and invite every business or person with a website to join our project. No financial investment is required, just good will."

How does it work?
Technically, it is sufficient to download a file through www.notfound.org and to integrate it into a website. The missing child message will then automatically invade the 404 page space of this website. After installation, which will only take a few minutes, everything happens automatically.

Visit the www.notfound.org website to download the module. You will also find a complete overview of the project and its technical specifications.