{"id":11072,"date":"2026-10-25T10:45:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T14:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/?p=11072"},"modified":"2026-10-25T10:27:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T14:27:34","slug":"verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verisign.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Verisign<\/a> closed the third quarter of 2026 with 182.5 million .com and .net registrations, a 6.1 percent jump from the same period a year earlier. The registry added a net 3.36 million names during the quarter and processed 13.1 million new registrations, a figure the company calls a record and one that sits 23.2 percent above the 10.6 million it logged in last year\u2019s third quarter.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Growth has picked up speed for four consecutive quarters. A year ago, the base expanded just 1.4 percent annually, and net additions per quarter have since more than doubled. Verisign\u2019s filing credits registrars for going after customers aggressively and leaning on its marketing programs. It also points to AI tools making it easier to build content and websites as a contributing force. On the earnings call, chief executive Jim Bidzos described an \u201cAI tailwind,\u201d noting that some registrars report AI has made it simpler to find a domain, spin up a site, and keep it running.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Renewals tell a calmer story. The preliminary third-quarter rate is 74.3 percent, down from 75.4 percent a year earlier. Chief financial officer John Calys blamed the dip mainly on a bigger share of names renewing for the first time after last year\u2019s strong sign-ups, since first-time renewals run lower than later ones. Final rates arrive a quarter later.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">That momentum pushed <a href=\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisigns-forgotten-domain-format-is-about-to-disappear-for-good\/\">Verisign<\/a> to raise its outlook. The company now expects the 2026 domain base to grow between 6.5 and 7.0 percent, up from the 5.2 to 6.0 percent it projected three months ago, and it nudged its revenue range up to $1.755 billion to $1.760 billion. The quarter brought in $443.0 million in revenue, with operating income climbing to $296.5 million. Net income held nearly flat at $212.6 million after a $7.5 million write-down of assets the company had flagged for sale.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Registrars and hosts that bundle domains will feel the cost pressure. The .com wholesale fee jumps from $10.26 to $10.97 on November 1, and the .net fee moves from $10.91 to $12.00 on March 1, 2027. Both changes push up the wholesale cost of every new registration and renewal.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Next on the agenda is .web. Verisign plans a 30-day trademark sunrise starting mid-December, followed by a limited registration period from mid-January 2027 where most .com registrants can claim the matching .web name. General availability comes after that, with pricing still in the works and set to reach registrars over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Verisign closed the third quarter of 2026 with 182.5 million .com and .net registrations, a 6.1 percent jump from the same period a year earlier. The registry added a net 3.36 million names during the quarter and processed 13.1 million new registrations, a figure the company calls a record and one that sits 23.2 percent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20624,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[8532,8530,8533,8531,3034,439],"class_list":["post-11072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","tag-com-price","tag-web-launch","tag-ai-website-creation","tag-domain-name-growth","tag-domain-registrars","tag-verisign"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak - Web Hosting News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak - Web Hosting News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Verisign closed the third quarter of 2026 with 182.5 million .com and .net registrations, a 6.1 percent jump from the same period a year earlier. The registry added a net 3.36 million names during the quarter and processed 13.1 million new registrations, a figure the company calls a record and one that sits 23.2 percent [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Web Hosting News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-25T14:45:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-25T14:27:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justine Juyad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Justine Juyad\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/\",\"name\":\"Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak - Web Hosting News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-25T14:45:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-25T14:27:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3a1732732b90f8c57c2a0ec68d3c49e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Web Hosting News\",\"description\":\"Cloud and web hosting industry daily news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3a1732732b90f8c57c2a0ec68d3c49e3\",\"name\":\"Justine Juyad\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96df33d01870f85226adf8492251fbefe00bc349b10bb7679b094f3fa086999c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96df33d01870f85226adf8492251fbefe00bc349b10bb7679b094f3fa086999c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Justine Juyad\"},\"description\":\"HostingDiscussion.com senior reporter\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/author\/justine-juyad\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak - Web Hosting News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hostingdiscussion.com\/news\/verisign-credits-an-ai-tailwind-as-com-and-net-growth-hits-a-four-quarter-streak\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Verisign credits an AI tailwind as .com and .net growth hits a four-quarter streak - Web Hosting News","og_description":"Verisign closed the third quarter of 2026 with 182.5 million .com and .net registrations, a 6.1 percent jump from the same period a year earlier. 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