Does domain parking provide a useful service? Or is it utterly valueless to the public? Many bloggers and tech writers are vehemently critical of domaining in its essence, calling it cybersquatting, typosquatting, or domain hoarding. They overlook the fact that domain parking provides at least one very basic service.

I’ve recently read two mainstream articles on cybersquatters – here’s one from CNET of all people (CNET has a large domain portfolio) – in which all domainers have derisively been lumped into the cybersquatting bin. These authors, who don’t seem to have a clear idea of what cybersquatting is, seem determined to negate any value that may exist in domain parking. They insist that parked pages generate clicks only by fooling the reader, who apparently is a dummy who doesn’t know what he’s looking for.

Domainers typically respond to these articles with the argument that parked pages provide a service by marrying people who are looking for something specific to businesses that provide that thing. Some domainers insist that these authors are simply jealous because they missed the boat.

Be that as it may, both these authors and the domainers are failing to mention one very basic service that parking provides: when a user navigates to a parked page, at least there’s something there. For example, I just registered several domains related to biometrics, including BiometricCars.com (I’m excited by the future possibilities of biometric devices). Anyone who navigates to that page is presented with links on relevant topics, including biometric security, biometric locks and biometric safes.

On the other hand, let’s say someone is curious about the use of biometric devices in motorcycles and navigates directly to BiometricMotorcycles.com. What happens? He gets a blank page with a “server not found” message, because at the time of this writing no one has registered this domain name (there’s a freebie for you, readers; it’s yours if you want it).

Which of these two experiences is more user friendly? Which provides more value?

Clearly a parked domain provides a fundamental service. There’s something there, and it provides relevant links to boot. How can anyone argue with that?

I bought this blog’s domain name – DomainerPro.com – from a fellow member of NamePros.com. The domain was hosted by enom.com, and I also have an enom account, so the seller pushed the domain name to me. I had instant ownership, with no hassle, and no 60 day wait had I intended to resell it. This is much easier than a transfer. So what exactly is the difference between a transfer and a push?

Transferring a domain name refers to changing registrars. This would include:

1. Transferring a domain from your account with one registrar – for example GoDaddy – to your account with another registrar – for example Moniker.
2. Transferring a domain from your ownership with one registrar to someone else’s ownership with a different registrar.

A domain name can only be transferred once every 60 days. And the domain transfer process can be rather cumbersome, depending on the registrars involved.

Pushing a domain name refers to moving the domain within the same registrar from one account to another. Pushing a domain allows the buyer to take full control of the domain immediately. The buyer can administer, transfer, and manage the domain. There is no waiting period if the buyer wants to transfer the domain name to someone else.

When I was a newbie I once bought a domain name at auction for $80 and the very next day I received an offer of $1,000 for it. We settled on $1,300. The buyer initiated a transfer request, only to be informed that the domain name could not be transferred for another 60 days. At the time I was not even aware of this rule. The buyer and I both had GoDaddy accounts and if I had been more experienced I would have known to simply push the domain to his account.

In the end, we waited the 60 days then concluded the transaction. If you ever find yourself in this situation, remember the difference between a transfer and a push!