Universities to Go Commercial?

CynTHESis writes "The University I am currently attending has more or less been sold on a product known as Campus Pipeline. This product provides customized content and services to students at the price of prioritized advertisement from which the people at Campus Pipeline, Inc. obtain their income. Because this product will eventually replace a multitude of student services it will become the web portal for the majority of the students. Campus Pipeline also subversively regulates bandwidth by the closest click method, allowing select companies to gain a significant advantage over smaller companies who do not use this service to advertise, creating a somewhat monopolistic content atmosphere. I understand that several other universities have purchased this product and are running it, and I would like to know what they think of it and how it has affected their campus." Now I can understand the need for ads on certain types of web pages, but shouldn't a college be going to their own IT departments for these types of solutions? What kind of services does Campus Pipeline provide that your average-sized college cannot?