Quote:The underlying cost of every .com domain is controlled by a company called Verisign, which holds the registry monopoly. Under their contract with ICANN (the internet governing body), Verisign is legally allowed to increase wholesale prices by 7% every year during the final 4 years of their 6-year contract cycle—which they have been doing consistently. 
 
What you get for the extra money: 
From a consumer standpoint, you do not get any new features or added value. The justification used by the registry is that the extra funds go toward handling massive global traffic volume and scaling up cybersecurity infrastructure to protect the root .com network against DDoS attacks. [n.b. Verisign does not carry any traffic, it is not a network - These are poor, flimsy reasons]