RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), a global leader in domain names and internet security, today announced that the third quarter of 2017 closed with approximately 330.7 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), a decrease of approximately 1.2 million domain name registrations as of Sept. 30, 2017.¹

The decrease of approximately 1.2 million domain name registrations globally equates to a decline rate of 0.4 percent over the second quarter of 2017.¹ Domain name registrations have grown by 1.1 percent, year over year.¹

The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of approximately 145.8 million domain name registrations in the domain name base in the third quarter of 2017. This represents a 1.2 percent increase year over year. As of Sept. 30, 2017, the .com domain name base totaled 130.8 million domain name registrations, while the .net domain name base totaled 15.0 million domain name registrations.

New .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 8.9 million during the third quarter of 2017. In the third quarter of 2016, new .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 8.3 million.

Verisign publishes the Domain Name Industry Brief to provide internet users throughout the world with statistical and analytical research and data on the domain name industry. The third quarter 2017 Domain Name Industry Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained at Verisign.com/DNIB.

About Verisign

Verisign, a global leader in domain names and internet security, enables internet navigation for many of the world's most recognized domain names and provides protection for websites and enterprises around the world. Verisign ensures the security, stability and resiliency of key internet infrastructure and services, including the .com and .net domains and two of the internet's root servers, as well as performs the root zone maintainer function for the core of the internet's Domain Name System (DNS). Verisign’s Security Services include Distributed Denial of Service Protection and Managed DNS. To learn more about what it means to be Powered by Verisign, please visit Verisign.com.

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© 2017 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved. VERISIGN, the VERISIGN logo, and other trademarks, service marks, and designs are registered or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the United States and in foreign countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

¹ .tk is a free ccTLD that provides free domain names to individuals and businesses. Revenue is generated by monetizing expired domain names. Domain names no longer in use by the registrant or expired are taken back by the registry and the residual traffic is sold to advertising networks. As such, there are no deleted .tk domain names. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131216006048/en/Freenom-Closes-3M-Series-Funding#.UxeUGNJDv9s. The .tk zone reflected here is based on data from Q3 2016, which is the most recent data available.

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