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More gloom predicted for .com
Verisign is predicting more shrinkage at .com and .net in 2025, despite a few notes of optimism from its CEO.
The company said last night that its two flagship gTLDs shrunk by a combined 3.7 million domains in 2024, a 2.1% decrease, as I flagged up a couple weeks ago, and that its growth this year will be between negative 2.3% and negative 0.3%.
The quarterly loss was around 500,000 domains. Verisign ended the quarter with 169 million domains under management.
CEO Jim Bidzos again told analysts that the shrinkage was partly due to weakness in China and partly due to American registrars concentrating on profit margins over customer acquisition.
Growth was positive in the EMEA region, he said, without quantifying it.
Bidzos said that marketing programs the company recently launched show early signs of adoption by registrars, and that he expects registrars to refocus on customer acquisition as part of a cyclical trend.
He pointed to the fact that two registrars — presumably GoDaddy and Squarespace — have taken out pricey Super Bowl TV ads this weekend as an encouraging sign.
He said that Verisign is “considering looking at” applying for new gTLDs next year and is “looking at the potential for applications”.
The company reported Q4 net income of $191 million, down from $265 million a year earlier, on revenue that was up 3.9% at $395 million.
For the full year, Verisign had net income of $786 million versus $818 million in 2023, on revenue that was up 4.3% at $1.56 billion.
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