MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (Marketwire) - VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure for the networked world, today announced a new alliance with MerchantCircle, the nation's largest social network of local business owners, to provide its 1.3 million members with a service to build increased confidence with consumers by displaying the VeriSign Trusted™ Seal, the most recognized trust mark on the Internet.

When a business in MerchantCircle's network purchases the VeriSign Trust Seal as a part of its membership, VeriSign will independently authenticate the identity of the company in a multi-step verification process. Only those suppliers who pass the VeriSign authentication can display the VeriSign seal on their MerchantCircle profiles.

Local and small businesses need an online presence to succeed; they have established their reputation in their neighborhoods but have yet to create that echelon of trust online. The VeriSign Trust Seal helps bring that same level of trust to these local businesses' online presence. By leveraging the Internet's No. 1 trust mark, businesses can establish consumer confidence and credibility, which can lead to increased sales.

MerchantCircle businesses will be able to provide potential customers with the assurance that comes from displaying the VeriSign Trust Seal in their member profile on the MerchantCircle web site. MerchantCircle small businesses displaying the VeriSign Trust Seal on their web sites will also benefit from the Seal-in-Search™ feature, which allows enabled browsers and VeriSign partnered sites to instantly recognize trusted sites displaying the VeriSign Trust Seal next to search engine results. Seal-in-Search™ ultimately helps businesses stand out from the competition and drive more traffic to their sites.

"VeriSign has been an industry standard of excellence for so many of the Internet's most popular businesses and we're looking forward to offering it to our extensive base of local business owners who are continually looking to differentiate themselves amongst their peers," said Darren Waddell, vice president of marketing at MerchantCircle. "We expect quite a bit of interest from merchants anxious to make their business stand out with a high quality seal of approval."

"As a flagship member of the VeriSign Trust Seal Partner Program, MerchantCircle is helping expand the reach of the new VeriSign Trust Seal to small businesses," said Armando Dacal, vice president of channel marketing and strategy at VeriSign. "MerchantCircle will provide a significant distribution channel for the VeriSign Trust Seal, targeting the small business owners who have previously not been able to leverage the VeriSign seal of approval."

About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.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 inability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new products and services and customer acceptance of any new products or services, including VeriSign Trust Seal; the possibility that VeriSign's announced new services may not result in additional 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, 2009 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.

©2010 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved. VeriSign, the VeriSign logo, the Checkmark Circle logo, VeriSign Trusted, VeriSign Trust, 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.