Connecting a custom domain to your Blogger site sounds simple—until you hit the “We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain” error. I recently faced this issue while using Cloudflare for DNS management, and after hours of frustration, I finally found the fix.
Here’s exactly what happened, what caused it, and how you can solve it too.
🧩 The Problem: Blogger Couldn’t Verify My Domain
After purchasing a domain and connecting it to Blogger, I followed Google’s official setup instructions:
Name: blog → ghs.google.com
Name: abcdefgd7gj → gv-abc3d3etf3hgam.dv.googlehosted.com
I added these CNAME records in Cloudflare’s DNS settings, saved them, and waited for propagation. Everything looked correct — yet Blogger still showed the same verification error.
Like most users, I assumed it was just DNS propagation delay, so I waited for a few hours. But nothing changed.
🔍 The Hidden Cause: Cloudflare’s Proxy Setting
The problem wasn’t the DNS records — it was Cloudflare’s proxy (orange cloud).
When Cloudflare’s proxy is active, it hides the real DNS information behind its own network. This prevents Blogger from detecting the correct CNAME records required for domain ownership verification.
In other words, Blogger couldn’t “see” my domain’s actual DNS setup because Cloudflare was masking it.
⚙️ The Solution: Turn Off Cloudflare Proxy
Here’s how I fixed it in just a few minutes:
- Open Cloudflare Dashboard → Select your domain.
- Go to the DNS tab.
- Locate both CNAME records:
- blog → ghs.google.com
- The verification CNAME provided by Blogger (a random string).
- Turn off the proxy by clicking the orange cloud icon — it should turn gray, indicating “DNS Only.”
- Visit dnschecker.org and confirm that your new CNAMEs are visible globally.
- Return to Blogger → Settings → Publishing → Custom Domain, and click Verify again.
Within a few minutes, Blogger recognized my domain and completed the verification. 🎉
🚀 Final Results
Once the verification succeeded:
- My custom domain started working immediately.
- Blogger automatically enabled HTTPS.
- Redirects from the non-www version to www version worked perfectly.
No more errors — just a live blog with a custom domain.
💡 Key Takeaways
Here’s what I learned (so you don’t waste hours like I did):
- Disable Cloudflare’s proxy before verifying domains with Blogger.
- Always check DNS visibility using a global tool like DNS Checker.
- Be patient — DNS propagation can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
- Don’t panic if the change doesn’t show instantly; caching and propagation delays are normal.
🔗 Useful Resources
✨ Conclusion
If you’re stuck on Blogger’s domain verification error, don’t give up — the issue is often just a Cloudflare setting away.
Turning off the proxy (orange cloud) lets Blogger verify your domain ownership instantly.
Once verified, you can turn Cloudflare’s proxy back on if you need its security and caching features — your blog will remain connected.