News & Events

VeriSign to Integrate RatePoint Platform to Help Businesses Manage Online Reputation

Online Reputation and Customer Feedback Platform Combined with VeriSign® SSL Will Offer Improved Consumer Confidence and Trust

Needham, MA and Mountain View, CA — March 17, 2008— RatePoint, Inc., a market leader for online reputation management platforms for businesses, and VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the leading provider of Internet infrastructure for the networked world, today announced that VeriSign will integrate RatePoint’s online reputation management and customer feedback platform as a value-added offering for customers to purchase as part of VeriSign’s retail SSL certificate.  VeriSign is the leading provider of SSL certificates and one of the most trusted brands on the Internet.  This agreement reflects VeriSign’s commitment to help online businesses improve consumer confidence and trust by enabling consumers to rate their overall satisfaction in doing business with them.

In the past, consumers have posted ratings and reviews on consumer-driven review sites like Yelp or Angie’s List, oftentimes because a business may not have its own outlet to collect and respond to customer feedback.  RatePoint effectively bridges the gap between consumers and businesses, providing a fair, balanced and straightforward way to connect with customers, to resolve potential disputes and share reviews. The end result for businesses is a better reputation and improved consumer confidence and trust. 

“The combination of VeriSign SSL with RatePoint will provide VeriSign customers with another way to establish trust amongst its consumers,” said Chris Babel, senior vice president, SSL, VeriSign.  “The market for RatePoint is relevant to businesses that use VeriSign SSL certificates to secure e-commerce transactions. Gaining the trust of consumers is vital to business success, and adding a mechanism to collect and promote authentic customer feedback and ratings will only further that trust.”  

“The VeriSign brand is a well-recognized symbol of a trusted and secure business, and the RatePoint solution further helps businesses promote, protect and manage their business reputation,” said Neal Creighton, CEO and co-founder, RatePoint.  “The natural synergies of both solutions further exemplify the power of this partnership for merchants and online consumers.”

Recent studies indicate that an increasing number of consumers search for online reviews before making online and offline purchase decisions.  Given the proliferation of consumer-generated content on the Web, RatePoint helps businesses manage what's being said about them online by providing a proactive mechanism to capture and publish consumer reviews and feedback directly from their Web sites. Previously, where any individual's comments could impact a business, RatePoint’s patent-pending offering provides perhaps the most innovative tool for businesses in encouraging customers to speak up.  The mutual benefit to consumers is they are given an interactive method to provide feedback directly to a business, where potential issues are more likely to be resolved.

“The rise of social media and user-generated content has propelled online reputation to top of mind for large and small businesses alike,” said Toby Bell, Vice President at Gartner. “By taking a proactive approach to managing, monitoring, and protecting their Internet reputations, businesses will improve consumer confidence and trust.”

About VeriSign 
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), operates Internet infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice, video and data networks. Additional news and information about the company is available at  www.verisign.com.

About RatePoint, Inc. 
Founded in 2006, RatePoint, Inc. offers a powerful, quality-assurance certification and customer feedback platform for today’s growing businesses. Leveraging the latest in Web 2.0 trends, web content authentication and consumer ratings systems, RatePoint, Inc. is revolutionizing the way businesses and consumers define, identify and monitor quality. RatePoint, Inc. was founded by the founders of GeoTrust and is a venture backed by Prism VentureWorks and .406 Ventures. For more information about RatePoint, Inc., please call 888.777.1636 or visit www.ratepoint.com.

Contacts 
Christina Rohall, crohall@verisign.com, 650-426-5219 
Sara Kiriakos, RatePoint, Inc., (781) 455-1100 x108, skiriakos@ratepoint.com

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as the risk that VeriSign's announced strategic relationships, including the relationship described herein, may not result in additional products, services, customers, profits or revenues; and increased competition and pricing pressures. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

© 2008 RatePoint, Inc. and VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved.  VeriSign, the VeriSign logo, VeriSign Secured, and the Checkmark Circle, and other trademarks, service marks, and designs are registered or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the United States and in foreign countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.