Re: Need to rethink verification process

Hello Geoff,
Google is not trying to generate a 404 http response, it
is checking what response you have for a non-existent URL,
with a probe404 URL. If your website returns 200 (OK) HTTP response
for a non-existent URL, then Google cannot be sure that the
200 (OK) response that it gets from your verification file's URL
means that the file is indeed there, since your website
gives this response also for non-existent URLs.
Your website is setup to do a 302 redirect to a custom
error page that gives the HTTP response 200 (OK) for
non-existent URLs, so Google gets the resulting 200 (OK) response
for a non-existent URL (the same as for an existent URL).
If you can, change the setup, so to return a 404 (Not Found)
HTTP resonse for a non-existent URL.

ukgeoff wrote:
> But I think you are missing the point. WHY IS Google TRYING TO
> GENERATE A 404?
>
> The verification file exists.