back

Internet Users Give Thumbs Up to Site Finder Service

Millions of Internet Users Benefit from Web Navigation Tool; Users Give Service High Marks for Improving Internet Experience

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – October 7, 2003 – VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today provided information about Internet user reaction to Site Finder, a service launched September 15 to improve Web navigation for Internet users.

Site Finder provides useful tools for Internet users who mistype a domain name or attempt to connect to a site that doesn’t exist. Instead of getting a user error message, users receive a Web page that offers a search box, a “Did You Mean?” listing of similar domain names, and a listing of popular categories related to the search request. VeriSign launched the service after a year of testing that indicated that Internet users receive more than 20 million error messages a day after searching for an unregistered domain name.

Prior to ICANN’s October 3 directive to shut down the service, Site Finder had been used more than 48 million times by Internet users to get where they want to go online. The most popular function was the Search tool, which has been used over 42 million times to search for a Web address or topic. The “Did You Mean?” tool was used 3 million times by users looking for a similar Web address. Site Finder has averaged 6 million unique visitors per day.

Internet users gave Site Finder high marks for making the Internet better, according to recent user surveys:

84 percent of Internet users who have tried Site Finder said that they preferred the service to receiving an error message.

65 percent of Internet users reported that they found the service easy to use while 61 percent said that Site Finder enabled them to find what they were looking for.

53 percent of Internet users said that Site Finder improved the Internet (an additional 35 percent of users thought it improved the Internet somewhat).

Surveys were conducted by Markitecture and Harris Interactive.

"As a heavy but non-technical computer user it has been extremely frustrating for me to encounter 404 errors. Naturally, they happen at the busiest times,” said Roy S. Lahet, vice president of Planning for Mercy Behavioral Health. “Alternative suggestions instead of a project-stopping 404 is a welcome and functional improvement to my use of the Web and related searches. It is difficult for me to see a downside to this user friendly enhancement."

“Internet users clearly have found Site Finder a helpful tool to navigate the Web,” said Russell Lewis, executive vice president of VeriSign’s Naming and Directory Services Group. “We will continue to take feedback from both Internet users and the technical community on how we can ensure that the service is available for the many Internet users who clearly like it.”

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), delivers critical infrastructure services that make the Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent, reliable and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands of businesses and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.

For more information, contact: 
VeriSign Media Relations: Tom Galvin, tgalvin@verisign.com, 202.973.6600 
VeriSign Investor Relations: Kathleen Bare, kbare@verisign.com, 650.426.3241

###

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information, including but not limited to new business relationships and new service offerings, 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 increasing competition and pricing pressure from competing services offered at prices below our prices, market acceptance of our existing services, the inability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new services or the failure of new services to gain customer acceptance, reduced demand for our services as a result of continued softness in information technology and telecommunications spending by our customers, and the risk that VeriSign’s strategic relationships may not result in additional products, services, customers and revenues.  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, 2002 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.