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

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), a global leader in domain names and Internet security, today announced that approximately 15 million domain names were added to the Internet in the fourth quarter of 2015, bringing the total number of registered domain names to approximately 314 million worldwide across all top-level domains (TLDs) as of Dec. 31, 2015, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief.

The increase of approximately 15 million domain names globally equates to a growth rate of 5 percent over the third quarter of 2015. Worldwide registrations have grown by 25.9 million, or 9 percent, year over year.

The .com and .net TLDs experienced aggregate growth in the fourth quarter of 2015, reaching a combined total of approximately 139.8 million .com and .net domain names in the domain name base. This represents a 6.3 percent increase year over year. As of Dec. 31, 2015, the domain name base of .com equaled 124 million names, while .net equaled 15.8 million names.

In the fourth quarter, Verisign processed 12.2 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, as compared to 8.2 million domain names for the same period in 2014.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, Verisign’s average daily Domain Name System (DNS) query load was approximately 123 billion queries per day across all TLDs operated by Verisign, with a peak of nearly 194 billion. Quarter over quarter, the daily average query load increased 2.8 percent and the peak decreased by 67.3 percent. Year over year, the daily average query load increased by 11.9 percent, and the peak increased by 32.6 percent.

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 fourth quarter 2015 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 functions for the core of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS). Verisign’s Security Services include intelligence-driven Distributed Denial of Service Protection, iDefense Security Intelligence and Managed DNS. To learn more about what it means to be Powered by Verisign, please visit Verisign.com.

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CONTACT:

VeriSign, Inc.
Investor Relations:
David Atchley, 703-948-4643
datchley@verisign.com
or
Media Relations:
Deana Alvy, 571-455-0667
dalvy@verisign.com