<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"><html><head><meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></head><body ><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, serif, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div>Good day,<br></div><div><br></div><div>As a marketing professional, I believe there is great value in having a short, memorable, brand-consistent .com domain name. However, search engines are focusing more and more on content and user intent. These days, it seems that the "address bar" is becoming something understood by only the techno-elite. That's not an understatement. Most people have no idea what a URL is or where they should enter it to go to a specific location.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Why does this matter to the question at hand? As much as I value the .com, it's a mere detail. It has to be priced as such. If the rates for .com go up significantly, the market will respond and abandon it in favor of other TLDs that don't cost as much.<br></div><div><br></div><div>I urge you to keep .com cost competitive and therefore relevant.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Thank you for considering my opinion.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Warm regards,</div><div data-zbluepencil-ignore="true" id=""><div>--<br></div><div><b>Andy Johnston</b>, Designer<br></div><div>AJ Design and Marketing, LLC<br></div><div><div><br></div><div>email: <a href="mailto:andy@ajdesignco.com"><b>andy@ajdesignco.com</b></a><br></div><div><span class="size" style="font-size:10pt">phone: <b>(864) 554-5061</b></span><br></div><div><br></div></div><div><i>Please note: I am in the habit of checking my email twice a day so I can provide excellent service and so I can be present with my family. If you have an urgent need where a 24-hour response horizon is not satisfactory, please call or text.</i><br></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br></body></html>