We'd like your feedback on a potential new verification process
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February 22, 2006
Before we show yousite stats, weverifysite ownership by asking you to upload a uniquely named file. Some webmasters can't do this (for
instance, they can't upload files or they can't choose filenames). We are considering adding an
alternate verification option and would like your feedback. This option would be an additional
choice. It would not replace the current verification process. If you have already verified your
site, you won't need to do anything new.
This alternate verification process would require that you place ametatag in the<HEAD>section of your home page. This META tag would contain a text string
unique to your Sitemaps account and site. We would provide you with this tag, which would look
something like this:
<meta name="owner-v1" contents="unique_string">
We would check for thismetatag in the first<HEAD>section of the page,
before the first<BODY>section. We would do this so that if your home page
is editable (for instance, is a wiki-type page or a blog with comments), someone could not add
thismetatag to the editable section of your page and claim ownership of your site.
The unique string would be a base-64 encoded SHA-256 hash of a string that is composed of the
email address of the owner of the site (for instance,admin@google.com) and the
domain name of the site (for instance,google.com).
We'd like your comments on this proposal. For those of you who can't verify now, would this be a
method you could use to verify? Do you see any potential problems with this method? Let us know
what you think in ourGoogle Group.
[[["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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle is considering an alternate site verification method using a unique meta tag in the HTML head section, in addition to the current file upload method.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis alternate method aims to help webmasters who cannot upload files to their site verify ownership.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe meta tag would contain a unique, secure string linked to the site owner's email and domain, placed before the body section for security.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis proposal is open for feedback from webmasters, especially those who currently cannot verify their sites, through the Google Group.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle emphasizes that this is an additional verification option and will not replace the existing file upload process.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google proposed an alternate site verification method for webmasters unable to upload files. This new option involves placing a unique `meta` tag within the `\u003cHEAD\u003e` section of a site's homepage. The tag, provided by Google, contains a unique text string derived from a base-64 encoded SHA-256 hash of the site owner's email and domain. Google will check this tag to ensure it's not added to editable sections of the page. They are asking for user feedback on this proposed method.\n"],null,["# We'd like your feedback on a potential new verification process\n\nFebruary 22, 2006\n\n\nBefore we show you\n[site stats](https://search.google.com/search-console), we\n[verify](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080)\nsite ownership by asking you to upload a uniquely named file. Some webmasters can't do this (for\ninstance, they can't upload files or they can't choose filenames). We are considering adding an\nalternate verification option and would like your feedback. This option would be an additional\nchoice. It would not replace the current verification process. If you have already verified your\nsite, you won't need to do anything new.\n\n\nThis alternate verification process would require that you place a `meta` tag in the\n`\u003cHEAD\u003e` section of your home page. This META tag would contain a text string\nunique to your Sitemaps account and site. We would provide you with this tag, which would look\nsomething like this: \n\n```\n\u003cmeta name=\"owner-v1\" contents=\"unique_string\"\u003e\n```\n\n\nWe would check for this `meta` tag in the first `\u003cHEAD\u003e` section of the page,\nbefore the first `\u003cBODY\u003e` section. We would do this so that if your home page\nis editable (for instance, is a wiki-type page or a blog with comments), someone could not add\nthis `meta` tag to the editable section of your page and claim ownership of your site.\n\n\nThe unique string would be a base-64 encoded SHA-256 hash of a string that is composed of the\nemail address of the owner of the site (for instance, `admin@google.com`) and the\ndomain name of the site (for instance, `google.com`).\n\n\nWe'd like your comments on this proposal. For those of you who can't verify now, would this be a\nmethod you could use to verify? Do you see any potential problems with this method? Let us know\nwhat you think in our\n[Google Group](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community).\n\nPosted by [Vanessa Fox](https://www.vanessafox.com/)"]]
