VeriSign, a global leader in domain names and internet security, 
today announced that approximately 7.9 million domain name registrations were added to the internet in the second quarter of 2016, bringing the total number of domain name registrations to approximately 334.6 million across all top-level domains (TLDs) as of June 30, 2016, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief.
The increase of approximately 7.9 million domain name registrations globally equates to a growth rate of 2.4 percent over the first quarter of 2016. Domain name registrations have grown by 38.2 million, or 12.9 percent, year over year.
The .com and .net TLDs experienced aggregate growth in the second quarter of 2016, reaching a combined total of approximately 143.2 million domain name registrations in the domain name base. This represents a 7.3 percent increase year over year. As of June 30, 2016, the .com domain name base equaled 127.5 million domain name registrations, while the .net domain name base equaled 15.8 million domain name registrations.
New .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 8.6 million during the second quarter of 2016. In the second quarter of 2015, new .com and .net domain name registrations totaled 8.7 million.
During the second quarter of 2016, Verisign’s average daily Domain Name System (DNS) query load was approximately 130 billion queries per day across all TLDs operated by Verisign, with a peak of nearly 179 billion queries. Quarter over quarter, the daily average query load increased 4.9 percent and the peak decreased by 5.0 percent. Year over year, the daily average query load increased by 17.0 percent, and the peak decreased by 1.5 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 second quarter 2016 Domain Name Industry Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained at Verisign.com/DNIB.
