A parked domain name is one which is taken, but it is not connected to some other service - web or e-mail hosting. Essentially, such a domain name will not open any actual content when you type it inside a browser, but no one can take it as you have already registered it and you are its owner. The main advantage of getting a domain name and parking it afterwards is that you are able to keep it and not worry that someone else could possibly register it meanwhile if, for instance, the website for it is not ready yet. You may create a short-term Under Construction webpage for a parked domain while you're working on the site, or direct it to another web address - temporarily or permanently. The second option can be used if you have already registered domain.com, for instance, and you get 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 addresses can be parked and directed to the .com since you do not need individual sites for them.