A parked domain is a term that is used to describe an inactive domain that is being reserved for later use or one that points to another existing domain. There are also two different types or uses of a parked domain name. Monetized parked domain names are generally used as a landing page for web visitors. On such a page will be tons of advertisements or pay-per-click links as well as search boxes on the page. It has the look of a real website, but instead it just directs you to other pages and links to advertisements. On the other hand, there are also non-monetized parked domains. In this situation, the website is mostly inactive, under construction or maintenance or is a placeholder for another website. Let’s take a look at the difference between these types of parked domains.

Monetized parked domains:
These kinds of parked domains are typically purchases specifically for the purpose of using ad networking as a way to make a straight profit on the website. These ad networks will typically provide the pay-per-click types of ads. This is the type of ad similar to a pay-per impression advertising initiative that award the domain owner money every time the ad is clicked on or the ad successfully takes the visitor to the linked website. The way it works is that the domain owner must have a place or a parking page to redirect the domain to the parking page and let it sit. Hence the term, parked domain. This makes it easy for the domain owner, who may be working with hundreds of domains, to monetize all of them.

Non-monetized parked domains:
This is a different type of domain, but for its purpose, is also considered to be a parked domain. They are usually just a website that is still under construction or is being changed. Parked domains like these will often feature an under construction web page for the owner to use during this time. This is a common occurrence in situations when a domain is registered, but the domain name server has not yet changed to the owner’s server. Usually the domain registrar will put up ads on the web page with the indication that the domain is now registered. Using a parked domain in this situation allows web domain owners to let their users know that the website is simply down for a period of time but is not expired. Some website owners will want to put a date of expected completion on the parked domain so web visitors will know when they can come back to the finished website.

Along with the idea of parked domains, there is also the practice of cybersquatting. Some parked domains will be used for this purpose to gain profits from known brands, companies and other bad faith reasons. It is not considered to be the most ethical of Internet practices. Many times the cyber squatting domains will build a domain that is really close in name or product brand to an already-existing product. This will draw visitors expecting to find the actual product and instead will find dozens of ads that can be clicked on to give the domain owner money. Parked domains will also be used in cases of expiring domains. The domain registrar might place a parked domain on domains that are expiring because the website expiration process can be a lengthy one.