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Thursday, August 02, 2012
In order to use Google services like
Webmaster Tools
and Google Apps
you must verify that you own the site or domain. One way you can do this is by creating a
DNS TXT record
to prove your ownership of the domain. Now you can also use
DNS CNAME
records to verify ownership of your domains. This is a new domain verification option for
users that are not able to create DNS TXT records for their domains.
For example, if you own the domain example.com, you can verify your ownership of the domain
by creating a DNS CNAME record as follows.
Select the Domain Name Provider method of verification, then select your domain name provider that
manages your DNS records or "Other" if your provider is not on this list.
Based on your selection you may either see the instructions to set a CNAME record or
see a link to the option Add a CNAME record. Follow the instructions to add
the specified CNAME record to your domain's DNS configuration.
Click the Verify button.
When you click Verify, Google will check for the CNAME record and if
everything works you will be added as a verified owner of the domain. Using this method
automatically verifies you as the owner of all websites on this domain. For example, when you
verify your ownership of example.com, you are automatically verified as an owner of
www.example.com as well as subdomains such as blog.example.com.
Sometimes DNS records take a while to make their way across the Internet. If we don't find the
record immediately, we'll check for it periodically and when we find the record we'll make you a
verified owner. To maintain your verification status don't remove the record, even after
verification succeeds.
If you don't have access to your DNS configuration at your domain name provider you can continue
to use any of the other verification methods, such as the
HTML file, the
meta tag or
Google Analytics tag
in order to verify that you own a site.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle services like Webmaster Tools and Google Apps require domain ownership verification.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDomain ownership can be verified through the addition of a DNS \u003ccode\u003eCNAME\u003c/code\u003e record.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eVerification via \u003ccode\u003eCNAME\u003c/code\u003e record automatically verifies ownership of all subdomains.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAlternative verification methods, like HTML file or meta tag, are available if DNS configuration access is limited.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["To verify site or domain ownership for Google services, users can now use DNS `CNAME` records, in addition to `TXT` records. Users add their domain to their account, select the domain name provider, and add the specified `CNAME` record to their DNS configuration. Clicking \"Verify\" prompts Google to check for the `CNAME` record; successful verification grants ownership to all sites on the domain. Alternative methods like HTML files, meta tags, or Google Analytics are available.\n"],null,["# Domain verification using CNAME records\n\nThursday, August 02, 2012\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore). Check out our current documentation on how to [verify your site ownership](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080).\n\n\nIn order to use Google services like\n[Webmaster Tools](https://search.google.com/search-console)\nand [Google Apps](https://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/)\nyou must verify that you own the site or domain. One way you can do this is by creating a\n[DNS `TXT` record](/search/blog/2010/03/dns-verification-ftw)\nto prove your ownership of the domain. Now you can also use\n**DNS [`CNAME`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNAME_record)\nrecords** to verify ownership of your domains. This is a new domain verification option for\nusers that are not able to create DNS `TXT` records for their domains.\n\n\nFor example, if you own the domain **example.com** , you can verify your ownership of the domain\nby creating a DNS `CNAME` record as follows.\n\n1. Add the domain example.com to your account either in [Webmaster Tools](https://search.google.com/search-console) or directly on the [Verification Home page](https://www.google.com/webmasters/verification/).\n2. Select the Domain Name Provider method of verification, then select your domain name provider that manages your DNS records or \"Other\" if your provider is not on this list.\n3. Based on your selection you may either see the instructions to set a `CNAME` record or see a link to the option **Add a `CNAME` record** . Follow the instructions to add the specified `CNAME` record to your domain's DNS configuration.\n4. Click the **Verify** button.\n\n\nWhen you click **Verify** , Google will check for the `CNAME` record and if\neverything works you will be added as a verified owner of the domain. Using this method\nautomatically verifies you as the owner of all websites on this domain. For example, when you\nverify your ownership of example.com, you are automatically verified as an owner of\nwww.example.com as well as subdomains such as blog.example.com.\n\n\nSometimes DNS records take a while to make their way across the Internet. If we don't find the\nrecord immediately, we'll check for it periodically and when we find the record we'll make you a\nverified owner. To maintain your verification status don't remove the record, even after\nverification succeeds.\n\n\nIf you don't have access to your DNS configuration at your domain name provider you can continue\nto use any of the other verification methods, such as the\n[HTML file](https://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35658), the\n[`meta` tag](https://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35659) or\n[Google Analytics tag](https://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=185871)\nin order to verify that you own a site.\n\n\nIf you have any questions please let us know via our\n[Webmaster Help forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/threads?hl=en&thread_filter=(category:search_console)).\n\nPosted by Pooja Wagh, Software Engineer"]]
