VeriSign Domain Report Shows Internet Growth Remains Strong

September 4, 2008; 10:40 AM

Mountain View, CA – September 3, 2008 – VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world today released the Domain Report for the second quarter of 2008, highlighting the continued growth of the Internet globally.  At the midpoint of 2008, there were 168 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs).  This represents a four percent increase over the first quarter of 2008 and 22 percent growth over the same quarter last year. 

The base of Country Code Top Level Domain Names (ccTLDs) totaled 65 million domain names, a four percent increase quarter over quarter and a 27 percent increase year over year. 

The composition of the domain name industry and rank order in terms of base size remained relatively constant with the largest TLDs remaining in the same rank order.  The largest TLDs in terms of base size were .com, .de, .cn, .net, .uk, .org, .info, .nl (The Netherlands), .eu (European Union), and .biz.

VeriSign processed peak loads of more than 48 billion Domain Name System (DNS) queries per day in the second quarter of 2008, resulting in millions of Internet users accessing Web sites or sending email. The VeriSign DNS continued to maintain 100 percent uptime during the second quarter of 2008, as it has for the past decade.

“Securing and protecting the integrity of DNS is critical to the stability of the global Internet, and VeriSign is continuing to make investments that improve the scalability and fortification of this critical infrastructure” said Raynor Dahlquist, senior vice president of Naming Services, VeriSign.  “VeriSign’s unique capability to operate global networks of this nature at this scale and reliability remains unparalleled.”

As the global registry operator for .com and .net, VeriSign reviews the state of the domain name industry through a variety of statistical and analytical research.  As a leading provider of digital infrastructure for the Internet, VeriSign provides this briefing to highlight important trends in domain name registration, including key performance indicators, and growth opportunities.

The Domain Name Brief also highlights the impressive growth for domain name registrations internationally, with a special focus on Latin America.   The growth in .com and .net domain name registrations in Latin America for the quarter was 31 percent growth, outpacing worldwide growth by 11 percentage points.  This growth is reflective of strong Internet indicators related to access, connectivity and usage. 

The complete contents of the Q2 VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief is available at  www.verisign.com/domainbrief

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About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.