A parked domain name is one that is taken, but it's not connected to any other service - web or email hosting. Put simply, this type of domain address will not load any actual content in case you type it within a browser, but no one can take it as you've already registered it and you are its owner. The main advantage of obtaining a domain name and parking it afterwards is that you can keep it and not stress that someone else might register it meanwhile if, for instance, the site for it is not ready yet. You can create a short-term Under Construction page for a parked domain address while you are working on your site, or direct it to another web address - temporarily or permanently. The second option can be used when you have already registered domain.com, for example, and you acquire domain.net and domain.org, so as to protect a brand name or a trademark. In such a case, the .net and .org domain addresses can be parked and forwarded to the .com because you don't need different websites for them.