Recent Posts
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Verisign boss talks .web launch, timing and pricing
Verisign hasn’t fully won .web yet, but it expects to soon and is talking in general terms about what the it might look like live.
CEO Jim Bidzos yesterday told analysts that he expects the Independent Review Process panel currently considering an appeal by rival applicant Afilias to deliver its final verdict before the end of the year. No hearings are scheduled.
Afilias claims Verisign and its secret proxy, Nu Dot Co, cheated, and that ICANN broke its own rules, in the 2016 auction that saw Verisign promise to pay $135 million for .web. Verisign thinks the claims are rubbish.
Bidzos told analysts, wanting to known when they can put .web revenue into the models, that it while it’s a “bit early to speculate” when the company will launch .web, it will likely happen a “couple of quarters from delegation”.
On pricing, he noted that .web does not have the same price controls as .com and .net:
.web is, of course, different from .com and net and that it’s not a price controlled TLD… We do have flexibility with it that we don’t have with other TLDs, and premiums are available. Other sorts of options are available.
But will the company put its marketing muscle behind .web? Many people, myself included, have said that Verisign’s interest in the gTLD is more about keeping it out of its rivals hands. Bidzos said:
There certainly will be some sort of marketing launch that will occur, but I just think it’s too early to really talk about what that would look like and what the expense impact will be. But we certainly intend to market and promote .web. Our plan, our desire, as we’ve stated — and I’ll say again — is to offer our customers more choice and to make .web a very successful TLD.
His comments came as Verisign reported its third-quarter financial results.
The company reported revenue up 5.1% at $334 million and net income of $157 million compared to $171 million a year ago.
It had 172.1 million .com and .net domains in its registry at the end of the quarter, up 1.48 million sequentially and a 5.1% increase on the year-ago number.
They won’t need to neuter it, just charge $10/yr and if people leave .com for .web no doubt a drop catcher will buy the .com anyway.
It’s a win-win for Verisign.
The ICANN fee for .web will much smaller than .net, so it’s likely they change their .net focus to .web. But .com will probably retain the majority of VRSN efforts.
I wouldn’t count chickens.