Google Playing Hardball with Free Hosting
To say that Google’s Webmaster Tool’s verification process is some what awkward is an understatement. What Google has been doing for a very long time is playing hardball with Free Hosting websites. Unless they are using a Google Page or a Google Sites website it is generally impossible to verify ownership of a Free site under Google’s current rules.
Google’s Website Verification Process
For as long as I can recall there has been only two ways that a webmaster can verify their website.
In the Choose verification method list, select the verification method that works best for you.
- Add a meta tag – We will ask you to add a META tag with a unique value to your site’s home page. This is the easiest solution if editing your home page’s HTML is easier than uploading new files. In addition, this solution lets you easily verify sites you’ve created using Google Sites.
- Upload an HTML file – We will ask you to create a file with a specific name and upload it to a specific directory on your webserver. The file can be empty – we care only about the file’s location, not about its content.
Webmasters who are using a free hosting service generally do not meet the Google’s very restrictive site verification requirements. Many free hosting services do not allow people to edit the Header Section of their source code, do not allow uploads of HTML files, or they do not allow uploads to their root directory.
As I write this post, the Google Webmaster Central team is testing a new verification process for Google Webmaster Tools. They are mute on just what process they are testing. Is there any other possible method of website verification?
Technorati’s Blog Verification Process
The answer is a big YES. Technorati has a blog verification process that works quite well. It is similar to Google’s meta tag verification process except that you are required to post their verification code in a new post. I have verified all of my blogs through Technorati this way. John H. Gohde definitely can see a similar process being used to verify any website.
Simply add verification code to the very top of the home page of any website in the Body Section of the HTML code. Once the site has been verified, webmasters are allowed to remove the verification code.
Lets face it, Google likes to play hardball with Free websites for no good reason.
