The first mention of "Earth Intruders" as a song title was made on All Access on March 10, 2007, and was later confirmed as the lead single through an article by "The Guardian" on March 11, 2007. On March 26, 2007, a distorted sample of the song was uploaded to YouTube as part of the viral marketing campaign for the "Volta" album. A fifteen-second sample of the track then appeared on the Rhino Records online ringtone website on April 1, 2007. The purchased ringtone featured a different clip (with different lyrics) to the one used in the online preview on the site; both audio samples were subsequently spread across music forums. On April 3, 2007 it was reported that the Björk section of the Rhino Records online ringtone store had been removed. After internet radio station WOXY played the song on April 6, 2007 the song was made widely available across file-sharing networks.