{"id":1962,"slug":"com-net-domain-renewal-75-percent-q4-2025-verisign","title":".com/.net domain renewal — preliminary 75.0% Q4 2025 (final 75.4% Q3 2025); low-to-mid-70s since 2004","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["domain-registration","page-builders","longevity-architecture"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Verisign / DNIB.com: the preliminary combined **.com/.net renewal percentage was 75.0% for Q4 2025** (final 75.4% for Q3 2025 vs 72.2% a year earlier; 72.7% final for Q2 2024). Roughly **one-quarter of domains due to renew lapse each cycle**. An academic analysis of VeriSign briefs found the .com/.net renewal rate has sat in the **low-to-mid-70s since 2004**.\n\n**Source:** DNIB.com (Verisign) Domain Name Industry Brief.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified (registry data).\n\n**Caveat:** Domains ≠ DIY sites. Many builder sites use vendor subdomains and never have a domain. A renewed domain may point at nothing. This is a **proxy**, not a direct measurement of DIY-site longevity.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** The cleanest independent longevity number that exists. When pairing with vendor retention (~85% — [[godaddy-fy2025-retention-85-percent-quarantined]]), the gap (~10pp) is some combination of survivor-only bias in the vendor figure and the domain↔site mismatch.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-diy-page-builder-effectiveness-longevity-june-2026","title":"Research brief: effectiveness and longevity of DIY / page-builder websites for SMBs (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"three-success-definitions-diy-builders-2026","title":"Three success definitions for DIY-builder sites — subscription active vs domain resolving vs content updated","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"godaddy-fy2025-retention-85-percent-quarantined","title":"GoDaddy FY2025 10-K — ~85% customer retention (84% in 2024 due to divestitures); 90% for >3-year cohort","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"smb-saas-monthly-churn-3-to-7-percent","title":"SMB-focused SaaS churn benchmark — 3–7% monthly logo churn (≈31–58% annually); DIY builders fit this reference class","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T12:08:39.317Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T12:08:39.317Z"}