Occasionally I'll type in a made-up domain name in my browser to see if it's already taken and sometimes it isn't, meaning it's available. [testing the waters so to speak]

But sometimes the particular domain I've used comes up and I'll find a site that is basically nothing but random google ads that are on the page.
Anyone know why someone would basically waste an otherwise good domain name in such a manner?

personally I wouldn't click on any of those ads that I see on these pages.

Chance,

In order to find out if a domain is taken or not, I would search for the domain using GoDaddy or another registrar. Many people buy a domain and don't put anything on there, so it appears on the browser that the domain is not taken, but it may be already taken.

What you're referring to with the Google Ads is called domain parking. Let's say, someone bought a whole bunch of domains. They can park it for a monthly fee and when people click on the ads, the domain owner and the registrar share the revenue generated from the ad clicks.

While you know they are ads, many people are unaware of it, and click on the ads.

The idea is that if someone has invested in buying a bunch of domains that he/she may not have an immediate use for, by parking it, they may make a few bucks from it.

Anyway, hope this clears it up a bit.

Sherif

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At times people who park domains are also attempting to auction off the name. They hope to make more than the cost of purchasing the name.

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Hi Chance,

Don't be so quick to determine this is a waste of a good domain name. Some of these pages are the most profitable websites on the internet today. If you have a good domain name it is possible to attract both direct navigation and organic search traffic to your site simply by creating a parked page.

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Greg
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Well I love the parking/ad sharing deal because it has great benefits for us domain resellers. Some months I may earn up to $80 or $90 just from GoDaddy sharing part of that revenue because 50% of my customers just leave their domains parked while they try to decide what to do with their sites.

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