Domain parking is the registration of an Internet domain name without using it for services such as e-mail or a website i.e. without placing any content on the domain. This may be done to reserve the domain name for future development, to protect against the possibility of cybersquatting, or to engage in cybersquatting. Since the domain name registrar will have set name servers for the domain, the registrar or reseller potentially has use of the domain rather than the final registrant.
Often a use of domain parking is to be a placeholder for an existing web site. The domain holder might also choose to redirect a domain to another website it has registered, either through URL redirection, domain cloaking or by pointing it as an alias of the main domain, although if this is done by the ultimate registrant, the domain is then in use, rather than parked.
Domain parking can be classified as monetized and non-monetized. In the former, advertisements are shown to visitors and the registrant gains revenue. In the latter, an "Under Construction" or a "Coming Soon" message may or may not be put up on the domain by the registrar or reseller. This is a single-page website that people see when they type the domain name or follow a link in a web browser. Domain names can be parked before a web site is ready for launching.