Global domain registrations rise 8% over Q4 2004; China, Japan and South Korea among leaders in worldwide domain registrations.

VeriSign, Inc., yesterday announced the release of VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief for the first quarter of 2005, underscoring key industry data for worldwide domain name activity.

In all, worldwide domain name registrations reached a record high of 76.9 million domain names, which represents eight percent growth over the fourth quarter of 2004 and a 22 percent increase over the first quarter of 2004. VeriSign, yesterday also released the Domain Name Industry Brief Regional Report for Asia highlighting Internet usage and connectivity trends in Asia's three fastest growing countries for Internet services - China, Japan and South Korea.

According to the Domain Name Industry Brief, over 6.7 million new domain names were registered in all Top Level Domains (TLDs) during the first quarter of 2005, marking the highest increase in domain name growth to date. Key factors contributing to the growth of new domain name registrations include a strengthening global economy, increasing numbers of regular Internet users and the continued growth in online advertising. During the first quarter of 2005, an average of 1.6 million new .com and .net registrations were added per month, representing a 19 percent increase over fourth quarter 2004.

"Historically, an indicator of the health and growth of the Internet has been the number of domain names registered and renewed," said Raynor Dahlquist, Vice President, VeriSign's Naming Services. "Given VeriSign's role as operator of the .com and .net infrastructure, we are uniquely positioned to see the trends and factors driving domain name growth, and ultimately, Internet growth."