The benefit provided by using a .com domain is in user perspective. Users typically view .com domains as more legitimate than domains with other TLDs. And for this same reason, .com domains tend to attract more natural inbound links than domains with other non-country coded TLDs.
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1514173
In an SEO Monopoly a company is attempting to control multiple sites on the front page of the search results. Each of these sites have some way of highlighting the parent company, usually, through the form of posts or text ads.
