Students Going Online to Save Money on Textbooks

Victoria, BC (PRWEB) August 18, 2005

America’s students will show their distain for highly priced textbooks by going online and purchasing discounted and used textbooks in record numbers during the current back-to-school season, according to Abebooks.com – the world’s largest online marketplace for books.

Abebooks.com expects to sell more academic books in August and September than any previous back-to-school season as increasing numbers of cash-strapped students turn to Internet booksellers. In January and February 2005, the website saw textbook sales increase by 400 percent on 12 months earlier, and that trend is set to continue.

List prices for new textbooks often exceed $ 100 and students studying medicine, engineering, the sciences and niche subjects are confronted with price-tags over $ 150. According to a report* from the Government Accountability Office released Aug. 16, textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation in the past two decades and the average student spends almost $ 900 on textbooks and supplies.

Abebooks.com offers millions of new and used textbooks, and its average used textbook price is $ 27.

A common title such as Organic Chemistry by TW Graham Solomons and Craig Fryhle (July 2003 edition) has a list price of $ 141, yet used copies of the exact same edition are offered for $ 89 on Abebooks.com, which also has used older editions for $ 1.

Abebooks.com has a dedicated section called "Textbook Central" to help students find their books easily and quickly. It also includes a buy-back program where students can sell their books to recoup funds, as well as contests to win a Tablet PC, gift certificates for posters, CDs and iPods.

“Previously students had no choice but to purchase their textbooks at list prices from their own campus stores or large local bookstores,” said Sue Connors, Abebooks director of bookseller community. “In the last 18 months, the Internet has dramatically changed that situation and now price-conscious students can choose between new and used editions at cheaper prices by simply spending a few minutes online.”

About Abebooks.com:

Abebooks.com is the world’s largest online marketplace for books, with over 70 million new, used, rare, and out-of-print titles listed for sale by more than 13,000 independent booksellers from around the world. Abebooks has millions of registered customers who collectively purchase more than 25,000 books a day from its five global websites (Abebooks.com, Abebooks.co.uk, Abebooks.de, Abebooks.fr and Iberlibro.com). A true internet success story, Abebooks.com has been selling books online since 1996, and is a private company based in Victoria, B.C., Canada, with offices in Germany and Spain.

Contacts:

Richard Davies, PR & Publicity Mgr., Abebooks

Office Ph: 250-412-3238

*Published by the Government Accountability Office

http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/repandtest.html

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New Online Voice for Northumberland and Scottish Borders Launched

Northumberland, England (PRWEB UK) 1 November 2011

A unique online travel, tourism and lifestyle magazine for Northumberland and the Scottish Borders has launched selling the area's countless natural and cultural attractions to people in Britain and abroad.

http://www.thisisnorthumberland.com takes a completely new approach to the way travel and tourism information is delivered to potential visitors by combining news and features with searchable accommodation, event and activity databases. It is the first website of its kind in the UK.

Furthermore, it is the first time Northumberland and the Scottish Borders have been marketed as a single tourism destination, even though the history and customs of both areas have been irrevocably intertwined for thousands of years.

For centuries the Tweed formed the much-fought-over frontier between England and Scotland, but the launch of thisisnorthumberland.com reflects the fact that the river is no longer seen as a political boundary by visitors and locals - who enjoy moving freely between the two nations for pleasure and business.

The people behind the website are journalist and former Northumberland Tourism PR and marketing executive Sheelagh Caygill and well-known North East journalist Jane Hall, who have brought together some of the regions finest writing, film making and photographic talent to work on the venture.

They believe thisisnorthumberland.com will play a significant part in helping businesses fight back in the current economic turmoil and boost tourism both long stay, weekend and day trips.

Sheelagh, who is based in Morpeth, said: We did a lot of research before developing and launching the site and, as far as we know, there is nothing like it in the UK.

Visitors and businesses told us theyd like to read news, features and interesting interviews alongside searches for accommodation, events and what to do.

Jane added: Tens of thousands of people pass through Northumberland and the Borders each year, but we dont want them just passing through.

By positively promoting what the area has to offer we hope they will choose to stay, enjoy the hospitality Northumberland and the Scottish Borders is justifiably famous for and spend money in local businesses.

Thisisnorthumberland.com offers a plethora of information by themes on everything from activities and destinations to food, reviews, history, culture, market towns, events, exploring, courses and travel planning coupled with engagingly written lifestyle features and informative daily tourism news updates.

It has downloadable walks and a special Secret Stories section where Northumberland and the Scottish Borders hidden tales are revealed. The team behind the site has had a specially commissioned video produced - promoting one of the UKs most special and beautiful regions - with others set to follow.

There is even a Your Country section, designed to appeal to locals as well as visitors. An Industry section carries relevant business news.

Jane said: We want residents to be aware of the numerous attractions the area has to offer from the breathtaking countryside and coast to stunning stately homes, world renowned heritage attractions like Hadrians Wall, top-class museums and galleries, award-winning restaurants and pubs and charming and cosmopolitan towns and villages all of which are waiting to be explored and which in many cases offer great free days out.

The launch of thisisnorthumberland.com has been welcomed by tourism and leisure businesses in the area. Northumberland National Parks communications team said the site is A very well-executed online resource for visitors and people who love Northumberland to keep in touch with our special places and people.

Nationally acclaimed walking guide Jon Monks, who runs Rothbury-based Shepherds Walks, said: It is great to see such a comprehensive resource, not only for the visitor but locals alike.

Andy Craig, owner of a photographic business near Alnwick, added: Thisisnorthumberland.com is positive, enthusiastic and passionate about the area it represents. Such a well-informed and up-to-date website is just what the visitor needs so they choose Northumberland as a destination.

The thisisnorthumberland.com team has put their own money into the venture and now intends to invest in search engine optimisation and additional site development to lift its profile.

The website utilises the power of social media with links to YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Jane, who was raised in Rothbury, continued: We are passionate about promoting the area. We aim to put it firmly on the national and international travel map.

Thisisnorthumberland.com reflects the best of England and Scotlands border area through rich imagery, easy navigation, engaging writing, and user-generated content and provides consumers with all the information necessary to plan and book a vacation or day out.

Images are copyright Andy Craig Photography. Please credit.

MEDIA ENQUIRES

For more information and interview requests please call Sheelagh Caygill on 07545 596 465 or Jane Hall on 07880 923 507

http://www.thisisnorthumberland.com

Email: thisisnorthumberland(at)gmail(dot)com

Twitter: @Nland_Borders

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/northumberlandborder

uk.linkedin.com/groups/Northumberland-Borders-4091844

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Ad.ly Debuts Consumer Influence Index; Names Lauren Conrad the Most Influential Celebrity Online.

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) January 11, 2011

Ad.ly, which runs celebrity endorsements in social media, today announced the debut of its Consumer Influence Index.

The index a top 10 list revealing which celebrities drive the most consumer traffic to advertisers sites ranks Lauren Conrad as the most influential celebrity online for Q4, 2010 followed by Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, and then rapper Snoop Dogg.

If people are the new publishers, then people are the future of advertising, and celebrities are the new prime time, said Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO, Ad.ly, Inc. Thats why we define influence as the ability to get people to visit places on the Web. This simple metric is essential to social media marketing. Its how brands will decide where to spend their money.

During the Q4 holiday shopping season, top Ad.ly celebrities distinguished themselves as tastemakers in entertainment, fashion, consumer electronics and more. The following celebrities drove the most consumer traffic to advertisers campaign landing pages, Q4 holiday promotions and more:

1.)

CampusBooks.com Inc. Announces Record Number of Students Buying Textbooks Online

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) August 26, 2005

With the back to school season in full swing, CampusBooks.com announced today that a record number of students are buying textbooks online this year. According to Alex Neal, President and Founder of CampusBooks, website traffic and online textbook sales have more than doubled over last year.

According to Neal, "Our business has grown exponentially over the last three years. We are seeing more and more students buying textbooks online. As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) study pointed out last week, textbook prices have been rising at twice the rate of inflation. The average first year college student now spends over $ 900 on textbooks. Coupled with the fact that college students today are very Internet savvy, and it’s easy to see why more and more students are buying books online."

College textbook costs have been rising rapidly due to the widespread industry practice of "bundling" (where book publishers bundle their textbooks with software CDs and other extras and then mark up the price significantly). Additionally, new editions of the same textbook are released virtually every year, with little new content but higher retail prices. This practice discourages the sale of used textbooks that undermine textbook publisher profits.

"The best way to save money on your textbooks is to buy used," adds Mr. Neal. "It’s like buying a used car. Let the original buyer take the depreciation hit, and get more books for your buck. Also buy older editions if possible. Check with your instructor first, but typically the content of a new edition is not much different from the previous edition. The biggest difference is the price."

CampusBooks is a free online textbook price comparison shopping service that searches over 40 bookstores for the lowest prices on new and used textbooks. The site searches all the top bookstores on the Internet, including Amazon, BarnesandNoble and many others. Additionally, CampusBooks operates a used book marketplace where students can sell their books directly to other students.

According to Neal, "The average student saved over $ 180 buying their books on our site, and sold their books for $ 24 more on average than what they would have gotten at the campus bookstore buyback. Using the Internet to buy and sell books is really a win-win for college students."

Mr. Neal founded CampusBooks Inc. in 1998 during the height of the dot com boom. Originally an online textbook reseller, CampusBooks evolved into a textbook comparison shopping site in 2000 and continues to grow.

For information: http://www.campusbooks.com or

Contact: help@campusbooks.com

Phone: 858-569-5009

Fax: 858-569-0359

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Texas Bridge Designer/Builder Announces New Online Initiative

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 06, 2011

Lone Star Bridges, a leader in bridge design and installation in Texas has announced an initiative to make its services and information easier to find online.

"We have built a fully optimized website that offers a great deal of practical information on bridge design for people who are trying to find it online," says company owner Michelle Spittler. "As authorities in the bridge building business for more than 20 years, we have an expertise that most people do not have ready access to. We can now make it easier for people to find our specialized service through search engines like Google."

Lone Star Bridges website is a collaboration between its industry experts and web professionals who understand how search engines like Google and Yahoo rank and place search results.

"Online information is very scattered. Our aim is to provide useful to our market, which ranges from individuals to utilities and construction related industries," says Spittler. "By putting top quality information and content on our site in a very strategic way, our Internet presence ranks at the top of Google's search results so people can find us first when they are searching anything bridge related in Texas."

The type of content Spittler mentions is informational and educational in nature, and Google and other search engines favor it over other types of web pages that are geared towards advertising and self-promotion. Many businesses focus their entire website on selling their products and services, and do very little to help educate end users with practical, useful information. Businesses that go a step further and take the time and energy to build an optimized website have a much more visible presence online.

"Our site is much different than every other bridge-related website on the Internet," Spittler says. "We have put together a very useful resource articles, information and blogs for people who are looking for information, doing research, or educating themselves about bridge design, fabrication and installation. If people search Google, they'll be able to find us because of this, and they'll see that we know what we're talking about when it comes to the bridge building industry. Educating our clients has always been a top priority here at Lone Star Bridges, so we are very excited to have launched this Website."

Lone Star Bridges fabricates steel bridges of any size and for any purpose, including temporary and rental structures, throughout Texas.

For media information call Michelle Spittler at 979-242-3350.

http://www.lonestarbridges.com

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Online Debit: Selling Convenience (And Trust)

Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 06, 2011

In new research, Online Debit: Selling Convenience (And Trust), Mercator reviews the range of consumer online payment activity through the filters of new technologies, merchant focus on product expansion, and the role trust and security play at the point of purchase.

The electronic payments evolution that's driving investments into mobile wallets and NFC-enabled devices is also placing added pressure on the debit card programs of traditional retail financial institutions. Everyday purchases, long the core base of debit card transactions, are being enabled online by merchants offering an increasing number of consumable items (such as groceries) with all the shipping and purchasing conveniences consumers expect in the online experience.

Merchants are tying together online and offline buying experiences through web and mobile-enabled application to enable convenient "one-click" buying experiences. At the same time, merchants can incentivize consumers to pick one payment form over another through discounts and other promotional programs.

Highlights of this report include:

The role of signature and alternative debit forms in online payments.

An overview of new online debit technologies being introduced in the market.

Profiles of consumer demographics most likely to drive increased online spend within everyday item categories.

An analysis of the potential impact of merchant's expansion into grocery, pharmacy, and other daily commodity categories to the debit market, as well as their influence over payment types.

A discussion regarding the importance of issuers building an expanded view of how consumers use their depository accounts to protect and grow their retail banking franchises.

A review of the impact of risk management for issuers and consumer' concerns about protecting their cash accounts on online debit payments.

"Consumers' ability to access the Internet through an ever wider variety of untethered devices makes the ability to transact at will a de facto requirement for more and more transactions. Our research indicates that everyday spend transactions, those lying at the heart of the debit market, are being enabled online or through online/offline combinations by most of the largest retailers in the United States.," Patricia Hewitt, director of Mercator Advisory Group's Debit Advisory Service comments.

This report is 32 pages long and has 21 exhibits.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Amazon, Acculynk, Adaptive Payments, WalMart, Cardinal Commerce, Google, PayPal, CVS, American Airlines, Authorize.net, NACHA, MasterCard, and PreCash.

Members of Mercator Advisory Group's Debit Advisory Service have access to this report as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access and other membership benefits.

Please visit us online at http://www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com.

For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: (781) 419-1700, send E-mail to info(at)mercatoradvisorygroup(dot)com.

For free industry news, opinions, research, company information and more visit us at http://www.PaymentsJournal.com.

Follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/MercatorAdvisor.

About Mercator Advisory Group

Mercator Advisory Group is the leading, independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments and banking industries. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors. Mercator Advisory Group is also the publisher of the online payments and banking news and information portal PaymentsJournal.com.

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Online Broker TradeKing Invites Students to Generate New Thinking at the Intersection of IT and Finance During First-Ever $100K API Campus Challenge

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) August 03, 2011

Online broker-dealer TradeKing (http://www.tradeking.com) today announced the TradeKing $ 100K API Campus Challenge. This challenge is intended to drive a unique collaboration between academia and an industry leader like TradeKing to foster creativity and drive awareness about innovative entrepreneurial possibilities around Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Born out of a groundbreaking pilot program conducted in Spring 2011 at the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola University Maryland, the Fall 2011 semester-long TradeKing Challenge will provide undergraduate business/finance and technology students across the U.S. with real-life experience developing investment-focused Apps and User Interfaces using TradeKings API. The Challenge will be open to as many as 20 universities; already, a number of schools from across the U.S., ranging from large public universities to smaller independent colleges, have registered to compete. The deadline for schools to register for the Challenge is August 15.

The TradeKing Challenge uses the innovative concept of classroom crowdsourcing to encourage students to develop new web and mobile applications using the TradeKing API, potentially combining the TradeKing API with other APIs from websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google. Submissions will be judged by a panel including senior TradeKing executives; Professor Paul Tallon, associate professor of information systems and operations management at the Sellinger School; Jason Heltzer, Principal, OCA Ventures; Brian OMalley, Partner, Battery Ventures; and Greg MacSweeney, Editorial Director of Wall Street & Technology magazine.

We want to encourage creative and transformational thinking, and have designed the TradeKing $ 100K API Campus Challenge to foster these core cultural values while benefiting students, faculty and our clients alike, said Don Montanaro, CEO and Chairman of TradeKing. Students will get the opportunity to work alongside seasoned technology professionals to experience a real-world software development lifecycle and test their skills. Faculty can leverage the Challenge to enhance course content by demonstrating the value of stimulating new creative ideas in a fast-changing and highly competitive online financial services environment.

And for our clients, we expect the outcome of the Challenge will be a wide variety of apps and optional customized trading experiences along with TradeKings commitment to provide the industrys best service and support. We believe this is the first-ever use of crowdsourcing in partnership with academic institutions by a brokerage firm in the U.S., and were proud to take a leadership role in bringing the Challenge to life, continued Montanaro.

Feedback from my students who participated in the pilot Challenge at Loyola was overwhelmingly positive, and I thoroughly enjoyed guiding them through the process, said Professor Tallon. Students were challenged to draw upon a diverse body of knowledge spanning both IT and finance in creating a next-generation App. They had to think in new ways and collaborate under a strict deadline, knowing their classmates were equally driven to move their ideas from concept to execution. I encourage all universities to take advantage of this valuable opportunity for leveraging a new model for classroom learning.

Working with TradeKings API is particularly rewarding for out-of-the box thinkers, creative developers and technologists alike for a number of reasons, commented Dan Raju, TradeKings CIO. In addition to the deep functionality of our API, TradeKing is offering a high level of commitment to service, technical resources and simplified developer onboarding. Were particularly focused on creating an outstanding developer experience in accessing and building great systems and Applications on our secure API.

TradeKing will award up to $ 100,000 in total prize money in the Challenge, including prize money for winners from each of the 20 participating schools, divisional winners and a national $ 20,000 winner. The professors and schools where the winning students are enrolled will also receive cash prizes. The TradeKing $ 100K API Campus Challenge will kick off on September 12, 2011. Interested faculty and undergraduates can visit http://apicampuschallenge.com/ to learn more.

About TradeKing

TradeKing (http://www.tradeking.com) is a nationally licensed online stock and options broker offering simple, low cost online trading fees ($ 4.95 per trade plus $ .65 per option contract, $ 8.95 per trade plus $ .15 per options contract for nine or more contracts) with no hidden costs or account minimums.1 A pioneer in integrating new financial social media as part of its innovative online equities, options trading and fixed-income trading platform, TradeKing has received multiple discount broker awards from top industry sources and was rated best in customer service by SmartMoney2 Magazine, ahead of OptionsXpress, Scottrade, Fidelity, and TD Ameritrade. (June 2011 SmartMoney Broker Survey.)

Follow TradeKing on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TradeKing,

Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tradeking,

YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/tradeking,

LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/tradeking.

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. For more information, please review the Characteristics and Risks of Standard Options brochure before you begin trading options. Options investors may lose the entire amount of their investment in a relatively short period of time.

TradeKing provides self-directed investors with discount brokerage services, and does not make recommendations or offer investment, financial, legal or tax advice. The content of this press release is provided for educational and informational purposes only, does not constitute a recommendation to enter in any of the securities transactions or to engage in any of the investment strategies presented herein, and does not represent the opinions of TradeKing or its employees.

Online trading has inherent risks due to system response and access times that vary due to market conditions, system performance and other factors. An investor should understand these and additional risks before trading.

Multiple leg options strategies involve additional risks and multiple commissions , and may result in complex tax treatments. Please consult a tax professional prior to implementing these strategies.

Member FINRA/SIPC.

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Afilias Receives Excellence In Online Trust Award From The Online Trust Alliance

Dublin, Ireland (Vocus) September 24, 2010

Afilias, a leading provider of Internet infrastructure services and the registry provider for the .INFO domain, has been awarded a 2010 Excellence in Registry Services award from the Online Trust Alliance. Afilias was recognized on Thursday, September 23rd at the Online Trust Alliances fifth annual 2010 Excellence in Online Trust Awards in Washington D.C. for its innovative leadership role in online safety initiatives over the past year.

Afilias cyber security initiatives included its pioneering Anti-Abuse Policy for the .INFO domain, which has helped .INFO to continuously score one of the lowest phishing uptimes for all generic top-level domains (TLDs). It also includes cross-industry collaboration initiatives which have helped suppress two of the largest cyber-gangs and incidents in the Internets history, Avalanche and Conficker. In addition, Afilias has worked to increase implementation of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), which is the only known protection against cache-poisoning and man-in-the-middle attacks.

We appreciate the recognition of our work to enable a more trustworthy Internet and owe thanks to a very cooperative industry, including our domain name registrars who have been responsive in helping us address domain abuse, said Ram Mohan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Afilias. We will continue to strengthen our anti-abuse program and will add DNSSEC protection to more than a dozen registries in the months ahead.

The Online Trust Alliance specifically cited Afilias as exemplifying excellence in online trust for the commitment to working with the registry community, ICANN, APWG and other organizations advancing DNSSEC and developing .ORG. Their development of tools successfully have helped to block over 2.5 million Conficker domains and aided anti-abuse policies, resulting in the suspension in over 100,000 abusive domains.

Afilias is committed to defeating abusive uses of domains and, since introducing our anti-abuse policy in 2008, we have demonstrated measurable results in fighting phishing, malware, and spam, added Greg Aaron, Director of Domain Security for Afilias. Collaboration with our registrars, the Anti-Phishing Working Group, law enforcement, and security vendors and researchers have helped make our efforts successful. This results-oriented approach and expertise sets our registry services apart.

About The Online Trust Alliance (OTA)

The OTAs mission is to create and promote business practices and technologies to enhance online trust and the vitality of e-commerce and online services. Formed in 2004, the OTA is a global non-profit organization representing the Internet ecosystem, supporting user choice and controls, protection of critical infrastructure, privacy and data governance, promoting marketing best practices and self-governance. For more information on OTA please visit https://otalliance.org/

About Afilias

Afilias is a global provider of Internet infrastructure services that connect people to their data. Afilias reliable, secure, scalable, and globally available technology supports a wide range of applications including Internet domain registry services, Managed DNS, and services in the RFID and supply chain market with its Afilias Discovery Services. For more information on Afilias please visit http://www.afilias.info.

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