Domain Parking

Last Updated: November 5, 2012

Definition - What does Domain Parking mean?

Domain parking refers to the process of reserving a domain name in advance for future use. Domain parking can be used to defend against cybersquatting or to get involved in cybersquatting, a technique that involves the acquisition of a domain name that is exactly identical to the name of a pre-existing business and then selling this domain name to the original name-holder for a profit. In domain parking, there is no need to upload any content on the website, which usually just displays just an under construction page. The domain name acquired using the domain parking process is known as a parked domain.

Techopedia explains Domain Parking

There are two main types of domain parking:

Monetized: This technique is used to generate income by showing ads to visitors.
Non-monetized: This technique is used to reserve domain names when a website is preparing for a launch. During this time, the parked domain simply displays an "under construction" or "coming soon" message.

Domain parking has the following advantages:

It can be used as a placeholder for a real website. The domain holder or a domain name registrant may decide to redirect incoming traffic from one domain to another registered domain. So, the parked domain can be used for that purpose. This process can be carried out by means of domain cloaking or URL redirection.
Parking can help maintain the backlinks from a terminated website.
The domain holder can sell the parked domains to future trademark holders. If the domain holder recognizes that a brand is planning to create website later on, the domain can be parked and then sold to the brand owner at an inflated price.