Site Verification API 503 backendError when verifying domain via service account

Google Cloud Compute Infrastructure
1

Hi, I’m trying to verify domain ownership using the Google Site Verification API with a service account.

Everything is properly configured:

  • API is enabled
  • Service account has Owner role
  • Using valid credentials.json
  • Using Python script with official Google API client
  • DNS TXT record is public and correct:
    google-site-verification=DGSSxFEFCIoxdzjc1imgSz1ttICLTzkMeFJGWOmxkog
  • Domain: soyrafaramos.com
  • Token is generated successfully via getToken()
  • But webResource().insert() always returns:

"503 backendError “The necessary verification token could not be found on your site.”

I’ve confirmed that the DNS record is visible globally (checked from OpenDNS, Google’s toolbox, and dig).

The issue has persisted for over 24 hours. Is this endpoint currently degraded or restricted in some way?

Thanks in advance.

2

Hi @SoyRafaRamos ,

Welcome to Google Cloud Community

Make sure you have a Verified owner permission to be able to use the Site verification API properly. A verified owner has the highest degree of permissions in Search Console. Verification lasts as long as the Search Console can confirm the presence and validity of your verification token. Search Console periodically checks if your verification token is still present and valid.

Note: Delegated owner - Someone granted ownership status by a verified owner without the use of a verification token. You may also want to check this documentation.

If you have further questions about site verification API, please reach out to our Google Cloud Support.

Was this helpful? If so, please accept this answer as “Solution”. If you need additional assistance, reply here within 2 business days and I’ll be happy to help.

3

Thanks for your reply.

I have checked everything carefully:

The service account indexing-api-service@indexador2025.iam.gserviceaccount.com is already a Verified Owner of the domain soyrafaramos.com in Google Search Console.

The TXT verification record is publicly accessible and correctly configured.

The Site Verification API is enabled on the project.

The service account has Owner role in the Google Cloud project.

There are no API-specific IAM restrictions.

The service account is enabled and working correctly.

No domain-wide delegation or OAuth consent screen setup is required for this use case.

The getToken() method works perfectly and retrieves a valid token.

However, when calling webResource().insert() with the DNS method, the API always returns a 503 backendError.

So this is not a permission problem or a misconfiguration: it appears to be a server-side issue affecting the Site Verification API.

Could you please escalate this internally or confirm if there is a known incident affecting the Site Verification API?

Thank you very much for your help!

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