Custom Domains And The Blogger Redirect Selection

One odd question which has been popping up occasionally from puzzled bloggers would be the nature of the Blogger Custom Domain Redirect option

I selected "Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com.", but I'm still getting a "404 Not Found". What is up here?

or

Why do I keep getting a parked page, even after I selected the Redirect option?

So, we Dig the DNS configuration, and see

www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

or maybe

mydomain.com.   3600    IN      A       68.178.232.100 
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

parkwebwin-v01.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net (68.178.232.100)
68.178.128.0 - 68.178.255.255
GoDaddy.com, Inc. 

And there, ladies and gentlemen, is your answer. The first configuration will give you a 404, because there is no DNS definition for "mydomain.com". The second configuration will give you the GoDaddy server "68.178.232.100", and a parked page display.

If you want the Blogger Redirect option to have any meaning, your DNS has to point into Google, in properly paired entries.

mydomain.com. 900 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.
www.mydomain.com. 900 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

or

mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 64.233.179.121
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 72.14.207.121
www.mydomain.com. 900 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

is the only way to make

Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com.

have any meaning.

The Redirect option starts with proper DNS, it does not substitute for proper DNS.

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