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"Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains"

As a possible supplement (and maybe an eventual replacement) for the old monolithic error
Another blog is already hosted at this address
we now have
Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains

Recently, we are starting to see forums reports
Once I changed the A records as mentioned above I changed it back to the blogspot address and then switched back to the custom domain name.

After that was done successfully, it has a box below that says "Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com". It then states an error "Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains".


It appears that we have now a more descriptive version of the old error "Another blog is already hosted at this address".

If you're seeing this message when publishing to your domain, first and always first, check your DNS addresses. Next, try to use Google Apps, and recycle the domain settings. If recycling in Google Apps doesn't prove effective, you'll need the Custom Domain Reset Form, and patience.

In at least this instance, the message is misleading; as in this case, the blog is supposedly hosted at the "www" alias. The wording of the message is intriguing, too. Which does it really mean
  1. "No blogs may be published to naked domains" (by policy).
  2. "This blog may not be published to a naked domain" (because the DNS is wrong, or the Google database is hosed).


I am told by Blogger Support that, by policy, blogs are to be blocked from being published to the domain root ("naked domain") when the domain is purchased through the "Buy A Domain" wizard, or from Google Apps.

This is to prevent unnecessary load on the 4 Google Apps servers, in an asymmetrical DNS configuration, which is not as robust a setup as is the "ghs.google.com" array. We don't know, though, whether this policy is effective when an asymmetrical configuration is used with the "Advanced Settings" wizard, with the domain purchased from a third party registrar.

Besides involving the history of the domain (how it was setup), it's possible that identification of the domain in the URL, as a function of the Top Level Domain in the URL, may be a concern here.

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Comments

Jamie Boyle said…
Hi Chuck,

Yeah I've been having that custom domain problem " Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains". I am wondeing on what to do next. I uploaded a photo of the screenshot that I am getting so you can see on my blog.

http://www.yourguidetointernetmarketing.net/2009/02/custom-domain-names-dns-error-blogger.html

Any advice?
Nitecruzr said…
Jamie,

Look up. Do you see "Another blog is already hosted at this address" and "the latter error"? Both phrases have links attached. Click on the links.
Coyote said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Coyote said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Richie S. said…
I dont know if this is the correct reply or what. But when I got this error for putting my custom domain as myfreehouse.co.cc putting www.myfreehouse.co.cc in front solved the matter
Nitecruzr said…
Ricky,

It sounds like you are seeing the correct symptom for the message. Hopefully, we'll see more examples like yours, so we see that we're on the right track.
Nitecruzr said…
Mike,

Using URL Forwarding is a good solution for secondary URLs in domain clusters. It's not consistently good, though, for primary URLs or single domains - depending upon how you setup the forwarding, with a "301" or "302", you either confuse your readers or get penalised by the search engines.
Matt Clapp said…
I'm having this same problem with the naked domain error. I'm freaking out. I did this today. My blogspot url was/is http://sharapovasthigh.blogspot.com

I switched to sharapovasthigh.com
(Don't worry, it's a sports blog, not as bad as it sounds)

www.sharapovasthigh.com works, but http://sharapovasthigh.com doesn't

Obviously this is a big deal. I for one pretty much never type in the www when I surf the web and I'm sure there's plenty more like me.

My domain is from GoDaddy.

If there's an update on this problem or there's something I can do, PLEASE contact me:

sharapovasthigh@gmail.com

Thanks,
Matt
Nitecruzr said…
Matt,

Your DNS address are your problem.
sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN A 68.178.232.100
www.sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

Make that:
sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.sharapovasthigh.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

Use a righteous configuration.
SPK said…
Chuck

It seems like a simple fix for me, because I have the same problem as Matt. (which is blogspot blog, with a custom url where www only works and no www gives a 404 error)

I, however, have no idea where to change the DNS entry. I purchased directly from google and I think they use enom? Any help would be much appreciated!!!!
Nitecruzr said…
SPK,

We have the forum GBH: Something Is Broken, where you can provide the details. Start a new thread, and identify the BlogSpot and domain URLs.
:: said…
HI CHUCK,

Help!

My blog pacquiaovideo.com used to work. But upon clicking "switch to blogspot.com" then switch back to custom domain. An error occured.

"Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains."

pacquiaovideo.com DO NOT WORK
while www.pacquiaovideo.com WORKS.

Help!

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