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NORTH PALM BEACH, FLA. – May
23, 2000 – Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: ILIF), today
announced that it has sold all business and assets of The College Press
Network (CPNet.com) to Colleges.com. The College Press Network is a leading
provider of college-focused Internet-based content and advertising solutions
for online college newspapers. The buyer, Colleges.com, is the creator
of the "Virtual Campus" community and a provider of Internet-based
commerce and services to the college and university community and is the
publisher of "U.", the National College Magazine, distributed
to 1.5 million students on a monthly basis throughout the school year.
"The marriage of The College Press Network and Colleges.com
will prove to be a great combination," said Elisabeth DeMarse, President
and CEO of Bankrate Inc. We are very impressed by their business strategy,
creative promotional campaigns, and the opportunities created through
the combination of our advertising network with the valuable relationships
that Colleges.com has created through its online and print publications."
The College Press Network advertising network includes over
60 colleges, including most of the Ivy League and many large universities.
Some of the college newspapers in the network include: the "Harvard
Independent" from Harvard University; and "The Yale Herald"
from Yale University; the "Daily Californian" from the University
of California, Berkeley; the "Daily Beacon" from the University
of Tennessee; the "Cavalier Daily" from the University of Virginia
and "The Auburn Plainsman" from Auburn University. In addition,
The College Press Network offers content that was created by CPNet journalists,
and student freelancers working for Bankrate Inc. In April 2000, the monthly
ad views exceeded 4.8 million impressions.
"We're excited to be bringing on the College Press
Network and look forward to continuing strong relationships with a diversity
of college newspapers nationwide," said John Carrieri, CEO of Colleges.com.
Specific terms of the sale were not disclosed.
About Colleges.com
Colleges.com, based in San Diego, California and rated the top college
Internet site by USA Today, is renowned for it's "virtual campus"
where web site visitors can "walk" through the different buildings
ranging from the Student Center, Classrooms, and Library, to the Sports
Coliseum and Bookstore. Each "building" offers a student applicable
content and services. Colleges.com's FREE MyCampus (tm) suite of services
for students includes homepages, e-mail, e-calendars, and 50MB of on-line
hard drive space. In addition, Colleges.com has its own proprietary Ultimate
Challenge* on-line games, a college search engine, $2 billion+ Scholarship
database, chat, news and a "Word of the Day" e-mail service.
Colleges.com's U. Magazine is the most widely read lifestyle
and entertainment magazine among 18- to 24-year-olds with a circulation
of 1.5 million. The only national college magazine that is written for
college students by college students, U. has been the No. 1 publication
in the college market in circulation, frequency and readership since its
debut in 1987. U. is currently distributed at 275 four-year colleges and
universities around the nation. U. is the winner of a 1998 Folio: Editorial
Excellence Award and U. was a finalist for three Maggie Awards (Best Consumer
Tabloid, Best On-line Publication, and Best Department: Quickies).
About Bankrate Inc.
Based in North Palm Beach, Fla., Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: ILIF) is an
industry leader in providing and syndicating personal finance infrastructure
for the online consumer public through a broad portfolio of demographically
targeted Web sites, print publications and broadcast segments. The company's
leading personal finance site, bankrate.com, features original content
that deals with financial planning, taxes, insurance, investing and banking.
Our gateway site, www.Bankrate Inc. serves as an introduction to Bankrate
Inc.'s family of Web sites, including the award-winning bankrate.com,
Pivot.com (insurance e-commerce – www.pivot.com), theWhiz.com (planning
content – www.thewhiz.com), Bankrate.com Taxes (tax planning –
www.intelligenttaxes.com), Consejero.com, (Spanish-language personal finance
– www.consejero.com) and GreenMagazine.com (investing – www.greenmagazine.com).
Content from Bankrate Inc. is published on co-branded Internet sites through
more than 120 distributors, including Snap (NASDAQ: NBCI), Yahoo! (NASDAQ:
YHOO), America Online (NYSE: AOL), CNN and Smart Money. The company's
original research is also distributed through more than 120 national and
state publications. Bankrate Inc. sites have approximately 1.3 million
unique visitors per month, according to Media Metrix.
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