In case you weren’t aware of these .. here’s the Wikipedia blurb about them ..

Domain parking is an advertising practice used primarily by domain name registrars and internet advertising publishers to monetize type-in traffic visiting an under-developed domain name. The domain name will usually resolve to a page containing relevant advertising listings and links. These links will be targeted to the predicted interests of the visitor and may change dynamically based on the results that visitors click on. Usually the domain owner is paid based on how many links have been visited (e.g. pay per click) and on how beneficial those visits have been. The keywords for any given domain name provide clues as to the intent of the visitor before arriving.

Another use of domain parking is to be a placeholder of an existing web site. A company might choose to use this method to redirect its website traffic to another web site it owns.

On domains with a ‘one-click’ implementation, a click on a keyword is not necessary to generate ads. The ads are targeted based on the domain name.

Domains with ‘two-click’ implementations require a click on a keyword or a keyword search to generate ads.

Domain parking can be classified as monetised and non-monetised. In the former, ads are shown to visitors and the domain is ‘monetised’. In the latter, an “Under Construction” or a “Coming Soon” message is put up on the domain. This a single page web site that people see when they type your domain name in a web browser. This is one quick way for getting an Internet presence. You can temporarily park your domain names before your web site is ready for launching.

So .. this is the scoop. I’ve got many domains .. but 8 of them were not doing anything except sitting in my account where I manage all of my domains. Last month in November 2006 I noticed an entry from one of my Bloglines feeds (I think it was on Erik Vossman‘s blog) .. about domain parking and monetization of parked domains. I decided to check this option out.

So.. I opened up two accounts .. one at NameDrive.com and the other at Sedo.com .. and redirected my name servers to these places – giving each four sites each to see how it goes. Basically, you can select a template out of a variety of templates, concentrate on certain keywords and categories .. and even allow enquiries for resale of the domain.

On NameDrive.com …. I have the following four sites added:

1-800-HART.com
1800-HART.com
PapillonLover.com
PetMedicineCanada.com

On Sedo.com .. I am not listing my 4 sites here… in case a link from this blog influences anything.

I don’t think I have any serious domain names that would make it worthwhile to earn revenues, nor do I have enough domains to make it worthwhile .. but I have decided that I will see what happens – with absolutely no referrals or advertising on these 8 sites (except the four above in this post). Well, at least not this year 2006.

Since November 21, 2006 when I started this experiment – I’ve earned nothing .. of course! But, better parked this way, than parked in storage giving people 404 error messages if visited .. right?

Are you parking any domains? How are you making out? Got any tips? Please add them in the comments below if you like! I know I’d like to hear other people’s strategies.