VeriSign Issues Quarterly Domain Report and
Registrant Profile Revealing Important Trends in Internet Growth and
Usage
Data Reveal Domain Name Numbers, Utilization, and Renewal Rates Have
Reached All-Time Highs
Mountain View, CA June 8, 2004 – VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN),
the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure services for the
Internet and telecommunications networks, today released the VeriSign
Domain Report and VeriSign Domain Name Registrant Profile, highlighting
key quarterly market data for domain name activity around the world.
According to the report, more than 4.7 million new domain names were
registered during the first quarter of 2004-the highest quarterly figure
for new domain registrations in the history of the Internet.
The profile reveals that more than 63 million domain names have now
been registered, approximately one for every 100 people living in the
world today. This number is greater than at any time in the Internet's
history, surpassing even the heights that were seen during the Internet
"bubble." Moreover, data reveal that the current base of domain
names is being utilized more actively than ever before, as measured
by renewal rates, look-up rates, and the percentage of domain names
tied to live sites.
As the operator of the global registry for .com and .net, as well as
the provider of two of the root servers for the global domain name system,
VeriSign has a unique view into the expansion and development of the
Internet. The VeriSign Domain Report and the VeriSign Domain Name Registrant
Profile mark the second issue in VeriSign's quarterly Domain
Name Industry Brief series. The series provides Internet
users across the world with key statistical and analytical research
on the domain name market. Each quarter, the Brief showcases a quarterly
topic related to important Internet trends, and updates the Domain Report
which provides key industry data.
Findings in this quarter's Brief include both an increasingly strong
rate of new registrations, and a growing stability and utilization within
the existing domain name base. Highlights include:
- Overall Growth: New registrations, renewal rates, and the overall
number of domain names under registration, all set records in the first
quarter of 2004. Showing 21 percent growth over the first quarter of
2003, total domain name registrations surpassed 63 million domain names
by the end of Q1.
- Increasing Utilization: In addition to being larger than at
any point in history, the current domain name base is also being used
more actively. Over 72 percent of today's domain names now resolve to
a Web site, up from 55 percent at the height of the boom in December
2002. In addition, total domain name resolutions for .com and .net reached
an average of 11 billion per day in the first quarter, indicating that
the speculative purchase of domain names that fueled much of the growth
in the late nineties has been replaced by real Web sites and e-mail
boxes, to which real people are connecting.
- Increasing Globalization: Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) account for a
growing portion of overall domain names, and currently represent 40
percent of all domain names registered in the world. The majority of
ccTLDs are registered in Europe, including .de (Germany) and .uk (United
Kingdom), which account for twelve percent and eight percent, respectively,
of all domains registered in the world. In fact, .de accounts for more
than 90 percent of all domains registered in Germany. Several countries
around the world have already launched Internationalized Domain Names
(IDNs), also known as "multilingual" domains, which allow
for the use of domain names written in non ASCII character sets. Other
countries are planning to launch IDN capabilities this year.
"Though North America has the highest number
of Internet users as a percentage of its population-some 55 percent-increasing
Internet traffic is a reflection of a fast growing group of Internet
users around the world," said Rusty Lewis, executive vice president
of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services. "For instance, 223
million people in Asia and 173 million people in Europe currently use
the Internet on a regular basis, compared with around 175 million in
North America. But, those Internet users represent only six percent
and 22 percent, respectively, of the total populations of Asia and Europe."
The overall trends in growth, utilization, and globalization found in
the Domain Brief are similar to Internet usage increases that VeriSign
has observed in operating other intelligent infrastructure services
for the Internet and telecommunications networks. For example, a recent
report from VeriSign's Security and Payments Services showed that online
commerce volume went up by 59 percent during the most recent holiday
shopping season, with average transaction value growing by 14 percent
to $152.00.
Copies of the report may be obtained at http://www.verisign.com/Resources/Naming_Services_Resources/
Domain_Name_Industry_Briefs/index.html. Find out about upcoming
domain market research.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), delivers critical infrastructure
services that make the Internet and telecommunications networks more
intelligent, reliable and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands
of businesses and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact
with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is
available at http://www.verisign.com.
Statements
in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from those stated
or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and
uncertainties include, among others; the current growth trends set forth
in the VeriSign Domain Name Report may not continue in the foreseeable
future and VeriSign's contracts to perform as the registry operators
for the .net and .com top-level domains expire in 2005 and 2007, respectively,
subject to a competitive bidding process under which VeriSign will compete
with other companies to remain as the registry operator in those top-level
domains. More information about potential factors that could affect
the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the
company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2003 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation
to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this
press release.
VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign, Inc. in the United States
and in foreign countries.
For more information,
contact:
VeriSign Media Relations: Patrick Burns, pburns@verisign.com,
703-948-4471
VeriSign Investor Relations: Katie Bare, kbare@verisign.com,
650-426-3241
