'Net Features : verisign

Domain Names Keep Growing Despite new TLDs Fears

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The domain name industry seems to be doing just fine despite all the hullabaloo about the coming introduction of those new gTLDs.

Verisign has just published its quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that more than 6 million domain names were added to the Internet in the final quarter of 2012. This brings the total number of registered domain names to more than 252 million worldwide across all TLDs – a 2.5% increase over Q3 2012 and the eighth-straight quarter with growth over 2%. Worldwide, TLD registrations grew by 26.6 million, or 11.8%, year over year in 2012. As of Dec. 31, 2012, the base of registered names in .com equaled 106.2 million names, while .net equaled 14.9 million names.

Other interesting facts from the report include:

- The .com and .net renewal rate for Q4 2012 was 72.9 percent (up slightly from the previous quarter)

- The base of Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) was 110.2 million domain names, a 5 percent increase quarter over quarter, and a 21.6 percent increase year over year in the base.

- 64% of domains had multi-page websites, 21% had one-page websites and 15% had no websites at all.

Domain Stats to Know

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:34:00 GMT

Verisign released their quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief for the 3rd quarter of 2012 this week.

Q3 ended with just over 246 million registered domain names (across all TLDs). In total, 5.7 million domains were added, a 2.4 percent increase in total registrations representing the seventh consecutive quarter of more than 2 percent growth.

Clearly, social and apps aren’t taking away from the domain name industry as dramatically as some pundits suggested. Year-over-year growth increased 12 percent with 26.4 million names added over the previous 12 months.

The .com extension remains, far and away, the most popular extension according to results included in the recent Verisign report. As of the end of September 2012, there were e 105 million .com domains and 14.9 million .net names.

It’s not all good news for the domain name industry however. The .com and .net renewal rate for 2012’s third quarter was down slightly to to 72.5% after a 72.9% rate in the second quarter. There was also a 1.1 percent drop in new .com ad /net registrations.

Another interesting domain name related news items comes from WIPO – the World Intellectual Property Organization – which received a record number of UDRP complaints in 2012. WIPO reported 2,879 cases were filed in 2012, compared to 2, 764 in 2012.

Symantec Automates SSL Certificate Renewals

Linc Wonham — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:00:00 GMT

Renewing secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates can be a pain point for website owners, but two new features from Symantec are designed to fully automate the process.

Customers who have deployed VeriSign SSL Certificates can automatically renew for up to six years with the new Express Renewal and AutoPay features. Express Renewal eliminates the need to submit a certificate signing request (CSR) or re-install a VeriSign SSL Certificate when it approaches renewal time.

When a certificate is up for renewal, the SSL customer can now pay for a new validity period. Customers can also activate the AutoPay renewal service upon initial enrollment. By automating payment for renewal, AutoPay service helps ensure that SSL protection continues without interruption.

Express Renewal is available at no charge to VeriSign SSL and EV SSL customers who submit a minimum 2048-bit CSR. Customers can activate and deactivate AutoPay at any time, for any reason and without penalty, for as long as they hold their VeriSign SSL or EV SSL Certificate.

205 Million Domain Names in January 2011

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:45:00 GMT

Do you remember that social media expert that told everyone (or anyone that would listen) that in the future you would not need domain names because social media destinations and mobile apps would eventually be the standard? They were wrong. How wrong nobody really knew (except us - and maybe you - of course) and now we've got proof.

The Internet added 3.5 million websites (a 1.7 percent increase over the third quarter) during the last three months of 2010 according to Verisign's Domain Name Industry Brief (PDF), bringing the total number of domain name registrations to well over 205 million.

Some interesting highlights from the report:

- The base of Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) was 80.1 million domain names, a 1.1 percent increase quarter over quarter, and a 0.3 percent increase year over year.

- New .com and .net registrations totaled 7.6 million during the quarter. This is a 1.6 percent increase in new registrations from the third quarter. Year over year, new registrations increased 4 percent.

- VeriSign’s (NASDAQ: VRSN) database of “.com” and “.net” domains accounted for 105.2 million registrations, up 4 percent from a year ago.

How to Win Snap Decisions on the Web

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:44:00 GMT

People make snap decisions when they browse the Web. They look for the familiar and the trusted, and they are equally concerned about fraudulent websites and viruses. To maximize traffic to your website, you need to quickly establish credibility and trust for your company and stand out from your competitors.

Join Website Magazine and the VeriSign Authentication team, now part of Symantec, for a free webinar on ways to build that trust.

The webinar is designed for online marketers, e-commerce managers, webmasters, and professionals responsible for increasing website traffic and conversions.

You’ll come away with actionable knowledge that will help improve your Web success.

Register now for the live "Snap Decisions" webinar (March 1, 2011).

SSL Trials from Symantec/Verisign

Design & Development Digest : feature — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:36:00 GMT

If you’re in the market for a SSL Certificate – check this out. Symantec this week launched a free trial of all its VeriSign Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates, including a free trial of a fully functional Extended Validation (EV) SSL...(read more)

Today Only – VeriSign Trust Seal for $1

Linc Wonham — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 06:40:00 GMT

To help Web professionals prepare for the oncoming holiday rush, VeriSign is offering the VeriSign Trust Seal for just $1. The industry’s most recognized trust mark signifies that a website has been authenticated and has passed a daily malware scan, and it normally costs business and site owners $299 per year.

The one-day offer is only good for today, November 3, 2010, and includes a one-year subscription. Visit this link to receive the promotion now.

The VeriSign Trust Seal helps site owners increase confidence, traffic and transactions by ensuring visitors that they have reached a trustworthy site. Branding and marketing services firm Global Village recently doubled its online orders after implementing the trust seal.

VeriSign Adds Malware Scans, Seal-in-Search to Services

Linc Wonham — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:30:00 GMT

Internet infrastructure services provider VeriSign has launched some new features that will provide increased security for website owners and continued trust for the consumers who visit them. The makers of the VeriSign Trust Seal and the strongest Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption service available unveiled their Seal-in-Search technology and daily malware scans for all site operators in possession of the VeriSign SSL Certificate.

With Seal-in-Search, website owners can provide a guaranteed trusted experience for online users and leverage the VeriSign Trust Seal even before users visit their sites. Consumers will see the seal next to search results on popular search engines and comparison shopping sites. A study by online mall TheFind found that search results bearing the VeriSign seal saw nearly 20-percent more click-through traffic than those results without the seal.

The other added feature for certificate-holding website owners is a daily malware scan that will lower the risk of attacks as well as protect against being blacklisted by malware-sensitive search engines and Web browsers. VeriSign’s malware service will alert customers when a page has been affected and direct them to the actual malware string.

eNom Slashing Prices for Resellers

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:37:00 GMT

Domain name wholesaler eNom is offering bargain-basement promotional pricing for hosting companies (and those interested in starting a reseller business or moving over to eNom) who enroll at next week's HostingCon 2010 conference in Austin. WM does not typically cover pricing reduction announcements but we think this one is pretty interesting, particularly for web hosting resellers looking to save a few money or who want to transfer out of their current solution.

According to the release, "Savings of up to 80 percent will be offered to new and existing customers who wish to create a new, or renew their, reseller account with eNom, alongside reduced pricing on .TV domain names and the recently launched VeriSign Trust Seal product."

HostingCon 2010 attendees interested in taking advantage of eNom’s special offers can speak with any eNom reseller account manager at the eNom HostingCon 2010 booth (#133) during regular show hours. Offers are valid July 19 thru July 21, 2010.

Sedo, Verisign Host .TV Domain Auction

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Domain name marketplace Sedo has teamed with registry operator for the .tv domain VeriSign for an exclusive auction of a catalog of 115 premium .tv domain names at the standard registry renewal fee.

Sedo will be auctioning .tv domains, including Beauty.tv, Bloopers.tv, Business.tv, Cable.tv, Films.tv, Finance.tv, Home.tv, Jobs.tv, Lifestyle.tv, Real.tv, and Vacation.tv. The auction begins on Sedo.com on April 1, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. EDT and ends on April 8, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. The complete list of .tv domain names available for auction at Sedo can be found at www.sedo.tv.

“VeriSign is pleased to offer these highly desired .tv domain names through auction. These web addresses have tremendous appeal, as they are industry neutral, with a great number of possible applications for each name,” said Tom Correia, VeriSign’s .tv Product Manager. “We selected Sedo, an industry leader with a large global reach, to be the auction platform for our first-ever .tv Registry auction.”

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VeriSign Beefs Up Trust Seal, Attack on Malware

Linc Wonham — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:02:00 GMT

The provider of the Internet’s most recognized symbol of trust has just bulked up a brand that’s already viewed 175 million times each day.

Last week, VeriSign, Inc. unveiled its VeriSign Trust Seal, an extension of the familiar checkmark circle of the VeriSign Secured® Seal, and this week the mark becomes available for online purchase to qualified Web sites looking to increase their traffic, security and customer loyalty. The new seal will be available through VeriSign’s reseller partners later in the year.

VeriSign is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services and is known known for authenticating large e-commerce sites that are protected with their own Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) transaction encryptions by certifying them with the VeriSign Secured Seal. Until now, however, the certification was not available to sites that outsource their payment functions to third-party providers.

Now VeriSign is extending the brand to include those sites, and, in the process, hoping to promote a safer Internet by identifying sites that compromise consumer safety. Under the new VeriSign Trust Seal program, the smaller as well as large sites will be protected from malware, or malicious software, that can infect them with data-stealing programs.

VeriSign estimates that nearly half of e-commerce sites don’t encrypt transaction data, such as customers’ credit card numbers, using SSL.

“That means that nearly half of merchants have been unable to take advantage of our trust mark,” says Tim Callan, VeriSign’s vice president of product marketing. “We’re excited to be able to change that.”

The new symbol, which displays VeriSign’s checkmark logo with the words “VeriSign Trusted” within the seal, is first being offered to sites that use hosted shopping carts. The fee will be $299 per web domain per year, and VeriSign will scan those sites each day for malware as part of the program.

Later this year, VeriSign will offer the new seal and malware-scanning software to its traditional customers as a value-added service for no extra fee. If the software discovers malware on a client site, it will automatically remove the VeriSign Trust Seal from the infected site and alert the site operator of the problem. The site operator would then use the application’s console to remove the malware.

In addition to malware scanning, Websites that earn the VeriSign Trust Seal can expect increased traffic by adding the most recognized trust mark on the Internet, while also avoiding search-engine blacklisting. Increased conversions can also result from the partnership program as customers are more likely to put their trust into sites that carry the seal of certification.

TheFind, an Internet shopping engine, recently released a joint study with VeriSign that showed that shoppers click through to online merchants 18.5 percent more often when the merchants display the VeriSign Secured Seal, compared to merchants on the shopping site who don’t display the seal.

“Reputation is vital to the success of the growing number of small- to medium-sized businesses competing in the online marketplace, and trust is a key component for protecting brand reputation and increasing consumer confidence,” said Ray Boggs, vice president of SMB research for IDC. “VeriSign’s brand recognition will extend to the new VeriSign Trust Seal to help small- and medium-sized businesses communicate trust and safety to customers and prospects.”

Darren Shafae, founder and vice president of Proofreading.com, said that his Internet-based document proofreading service saw a 36-percent increase in completed registrations after first posting the VeriSign seal to show that his site was encrypted.

“We’re a small company that isn’t widely known yet, and I think it’s doubly important for a smaller firm like ours to take advantage of the name recognition that VeriSign brings. When you're up against better known competitors, every advantage helps, and the VeriSign name is a decisive advantage. I believe that sites that don’t require SSL encryption can also benefit from a VeriSign seal of approval.”

GoDaddy versus Verisign [SSL Certificates]

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT

With the online holiday shopping season fast approaching, SSL certificates (which provide server to browser encryption, the padlock icon and the familiar https prefix to secure a website) are the focus of many merchants. So where are merchants turning for their SSL certificate needs these days? By the looks of it, they are going to GoDaddy.

In its Netcraft LTD Secure Server Survey for November 2009, the analyst firm announced that GoDaddy's overall SSL market share has grown four times faster than VeriSign's during the past year. NetCraft projected that GoDaddy would pass long-time market leader VeriSign in less than 18 months. GoDaddy apparently does not want to wait that long and is now offering its EV SSL Certificate for $99. Obtaining a relatively identical security level at VeriSign would cost more than $1400.

“The reason for our growth is simple - our customers are smart enough to know they can get a world-class SSL Cert without having to pay through the roof,” said GoDaddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “You could purchase 14 GoDaddy Certificates for the same price as a single VeriSign Cert, not to mention the great support our customers enjoy.”

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Domain Name Brief - February 18, 2009

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:40:00 GMT

Apparently, ICANN's plan to launch new generic top-level domains is running a bit behind schedule thanks to the complexity of the issue, but it should be available before the end of the year. That withstanding, the state of the domain industry seems strong.

The Internet added 24 million new domain names in 2008, according to the fourth quarter 2008 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, Inc.

The year 2008 ended with a total base of 177 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domains (TLDs)- a 16 percent growth over the previous year. In the fourth quarter alone, more than 10.1 million new domain names were registered across all TLDs. The total base of .com and .net domain names grew to 90.4 million at the end of 2008 - a 12 percent increase over the previous year and a 1 percent increase over the third quarter of 2008.

VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief

Administrator — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:15:00 GMT

Thirty-three million new domain names were registered in 2007 according to VeriSign in its March 2008 Domain Name Industry Brief. This brings the number of domain names to 153 million worldwide (top level domains - TLD's only) representing a 27% increase over Q4 07, and a 5% growth over Q1 07 with .com and .net domains reaching 80.4 million (a rise of 24% YoY).

VeriSign’s March 2008 Domain Name Industry Brief also shows that .com and .net renewals rose slightly in Q3 07 to 74%, four percentage points up on the average 70% recorded in previous years.