A Seattle entrepreneur says he's found an inexpensive, highly visible tool to plug his website- an innovation he calls "bum-vertising."

Ben Rogovy, a 22-year-old University of Washington graduate, sees the homeless and panhandlers as an untapped labor force, which he says he's putting to work.

He believes the marketing campaign benefits both him and the homeless people hired to hold up signs advertising his Web site, as he gives panhandlers a job, while getting cheap advertising.

Many homeless advocates, however, say Rogovy is exploiting the homeless.

In exchange for food, water and an undisclosed amount of cash, panhandlers agree to hold up their signs, as well as Rogovy's sign, plugging his online directory that "connects poker players from around the globe."

Nicole Macri, co-Chair of the Seattle King Coalition for the homeless, says the practice treats homeless people as signposts instead of humans, and the term "bumvertising" should be changed.

In an interview, Rogovy tells ABC NewsKOMO-TV

Before the start of the campaign, he says he used to get hundreds of hits per day; now, he gets thousands. Although he can't prove it, he thinks the signs are a significant factor in this.