Verify Your Cloud Hosting Provider with Google Search Console: What Site Owners Need to Know

Google recently reminded site owners and developers to verify cloud-hosted hosts inside Google Search Console to ensure accurate indexing and clearer reporting for assets served from cloud platforms. Verifying a cloud host connects your site’s hosted assets—images, videos, and other files—to your Search Console property so Google can better understand and report on how those resources are delivered.

Why verification matters

Verification is about control and clarity. When assets are served from cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, etc.), those resources may live on hostnames or storage buckets that are distinct from your main domain. If you do not verify the hostnames used by those providers, Search Console may not attribute crawl data, performance metrics, or security alerts to the correct owner. That can lead to incomplete reporting and delayed detection of issues that affect search visibility.

What Google recommends

John Mueller from Google explicitly encouraged verification of cloud-hosted hosts. As he put it: “If you’re using a cloud provider to host images / videos / other content, you can and should verify the host in Search Console.” Verifying the host helps Google understand the relationship between your site and the infrastructure serving that content, which supports consistent crawling and indexing.

Verification options and when to use them

DNS (Domain) verification

Use DNS (domain) verification when you need coverage for an entire domain and all subdomains. This method is the most comprehensive: by adding a TXT record to your DNS you verify control over example.com and every subdomain, which is useful if you serve assets across multiple subdomains or use several storage buckets. DNS domain verification is the preferred choice for larger sites and organizations.

URL-prefix verification

URL-prefix properties verify a single URL or subdomain (for example, https://images.example.com). Use this when a specific subdomain or path is hosted separately and you only need to track that particular host. This is simpler to set up when you do not control the parent domain or when you only want to verify a single content host.

CNAME to a storage bucket

If your cloud host uses storage buckets (for example, storage.googleapis.com or s3.amazonaws.com), configure a CNAME so a branded hostname (media.example.com) points to the bucket. Then verify that branded hostname in Search Console via DNS or URL-prefix verification. This both preserves brand control and centralizes Search Console reporting for those assets.

Step-by-step verification checklist

1. Inventory cloud hosts: list every hostname and storage bucket that serves site assets (images.example.com, cdn.example.com, bucket.storage.googleapis.com).
2. Decide scope: choose DNS (domain) verification for site-wide coverage or URL-prefix for single hosts.
3. Configure DNS/CNAME: add the provided Search Console TXT record for domain verification, or create a CNAME pointing a branded hostname to your storage bucket.
4. Verify in Search Console: add the hostname or domain property and complete verification. Confirm that resources show under the correct property.
5. Monitor reporting: check Performance, Coverage, and Security & Manual Actions reports in Search Console for the verified host to ensure data is flowing properly.

Implications for SEO and site operations

Verifying cloud hosts reduces the risk of fragmented data and improves the accuracy of reports that SEOs and site owners rely on. While switching hostnames or verifying new hosts can cause temporary fluctuations as Google reindexes assets, the long-term benefits include clearer performance metrics, faster detection of issues, and easier migrations between providers without losing search insights.

Using your own hostname (via CNAME) also keeps asset URLs on-brand and under your control—which helps preserve link equity and makes it simpler to manage redirects or provider changes in the future.

Summary and next steps

For any site using cloud providers to serve images, videos, or static assets, verifying those hostnames in Google Search Console is a straightforward but important step. It strengthens your ownership claims over hosted resources, improves reporting accuracy, and helps Google index and surface your content more reliably. Follow the checklist above to inventory hosts, choose the right verification method, and complete verification in Search Console.

Original reporting: https://searchengineland.com/google-says-verify-your-cloud-hosting-provider-with-search-console-464100