According to Domain Name Industry Brief, published by VeriSign Inc, a provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, the increase of 5.7 million domain names globally equates to a growth rate of 2.4 per cent over the second quarter of 2012, and marks the seventh straight quarter with greater than two per cent growth.

"Worldwide registrations have grown by 26.4 million, or 12 per cent, since the third quarter of 2011", a VeriSign statement said.

The .com and .net TLDs experienced aggregate growth in the third quarter of 2012, reaching a combined total of 119.9 million domain names in the adjusted zone for .com and .net. This represents 1 per cent increase in the base over the second quarter of 2012 and a 7.1 per cent increase over the third quarter of 2011.