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About QPI

 

About QPI

Brought to you by PIR, the people behind .ORG.

Based on the success of its own quality initiative to promote a healthy .ORG domain system, the Public Interest Registry began offering the program, called Quality Performance Index (QPI), at no cost to other registries in 2021.  

The objectives of the QPI initiative are to: recognize and reward those registrars who are committed to the mission of maintaining and growing trust and quality in the domain system; identifying areas of improvement so registries can work with registrars to raise their scores; and, promote the overall quality of individual domain name spaces and the Internet as a whole.

QPI is proven.

PIR launched its QPI quality initiative in May 2019 to promote a healthy .ORG domain system. This initiative centered around the creation of the Quality Performance Index which was designed to create responsible registrations in .ORG while implementing proactive steps to reduce DNS Abuse. PIR did so because as a non-profit dedicated to upholding the .ORG domain as a trusted domain space, it takes seriously its responsibility to operate for the good of the public interest. 

In the close to two years since its introduction, the QPI initiative has had a profound impact on not only the quality of .ORGs registered and renewed, but also on the business side of .ORG:

.ORG remains the least-abused of all large TLDs

Participating Registrars saw a marked improvement (4 percent) in renewal rates.

Approximately 50 percent of all .ORG new creates were registered through the QPI program.

PIR has observed direct changes in some registrar behavior; registrars that had previously unacceptably high abuse rates have worked to lower their abuse percentages in order to qualify for QPI and gain the financial incentive.

QPI is at work today.

The QPI initiative has been well received by registrars, with Ashley Barton, director of marketing at Name.com, saying, “PIR has been a key partner for Name.com over the past few years thanks to the QPI program, which incentivizes and rewards us for driving long-term, sustainable growth. Rather than chasing volume on low cost, first-year registrations, we can leverage the QPI program in alignment with our broader strategy of driving quality registrations with higher renewal rates. This focus on long-term success over short-term volume has led to an increase in .ORG revenue, which benefits both registry and registrar.”

QPI will work for you.

Given the success of the program and industry feedback, PIR has decided to make the QPI program and algorithm available to all members of the domain industry. In doing so, PIR hopes that the principles of QPI can be applied across all domain spaces, which can advance our shared goals of reducing DNS abuse and increasing longer-termed renewal rates.

While PIR expects that other registries and registrars to adopt QPI principles in a manner that works best for them, understanding how PIR uses it may provide valuable perspective. QPI is calculated by analyzing data for each registrar based on three core Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Abuse Takedown, Renewal Rates, and Domain Usage; and three secondary KPIs: SSL, DNSSEC, and ATL.  The weighted scores are then combined to form a single QPI score. If the QPI score meets or exceeds the baseline threshold established for a particular promotion, the registrar is then pre-qualified to participate for the promotion pending any additional terms and conditions requirements. 

For those registrars who do not meet the QPI eligibility threshold in order to participate in .ORG promotions, PIR hopes this is an opportunity to encourage one on one collaboration with our registrar partners. Our goal is to help them better understand the QPI in order to guide the progressive improvement of their scores to ensure participation in future programs. Better registrar QPI scores mean a reduction in DNS abuse and an increase in longer-termed renewal rates. All these factors contribute to a good Internet experience for all.

PIR will now make its QPI program and formula available to others in industry to create their own measurement and incentive programs. PIR will offer it’s QPI tools for free and enable others to adjust them (open source) to meet their needs. PIR believes that each member of the domain community holds a responsibility to be a good steward of the Internet. And for the Internet to continue to grow, it needs to be trusted, and QPI can be a critical part in building trust with individuals, mission-driven organizations, and companies.