A parked domain address is one that's taken, yet it is not linked to any other service - web or email hosting. Put simply, this type of domain won't open any real content in case you type it within an Internet browser, but no one can take it as you've already registered it and you are its owner. The advantage of getting a domain name and parking it afterwards is the fact that you can keep it and not worry that someone else may register it in the meantime if, for instance, the website for it is not ready yet. You can create a short-term Under Construction website page for a parked domain address while you are working on the site, or direct it to some other web address - temporarily or permanently. The second option can be used if you have already registered domain.com, for instance, and you obtain domain.net and domain.org, so that you can protect a brand name or a trademark. In cases like this, the .net and .org domain names can be parked and forwarded to the .com as you do not need separate sites for them.