Instead of pasting the verification token, these admins pasted the Google search URL they used to look it up. The entire search query — in global DNS — forever.
A Microsoft SharePoint sharing link (`https://acigroupltd.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/OomphWorks/...`) was pasted into the DNS TXT field. This was almost certainly a link to an internal IT document explaining *how* to do the DNS update — which then got pasted into DNS itself. The SharePoint URL also reveals the company's internal tenant and folder structure.
https://acigroupltd.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/OomphWorks/EbXyz...[internal document path] The administrator didn't know how to verify their domain, so they Googled exactly what the instructions told them: "copy the below code and paste it in the dns section of your domain host website". Then, instead of copying the verification code, they copied the Google search results URL and pasted *that* into their DNS. The full query string lives forever in the global DNS zone.
https://www.google.com/search?q=copy+the+below+code+and+paste+it+in+the+dns+section+of+your+domain+host+website&sca_esv=... This admin was completely lost. They Googled "how to add txt record to my hostinger web page", then pasted the URL of the Google search results page directly into the TXT record value field instead of the actual verification string they were trying to set up. The search query is now globally distributed via DNS.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+add+txt+record+to+my+hostinger+web+page&ie=UTF-8... They Googled their own Google site verification token — presumably trying to figure out what it was — and pasted the search results URL into DNS instead of the token itself. The irony: the token they were looking for was in the search query string of the URL they pasted.
https://www.google.com/search?q=google-site-verification%3DfPKE6GXeDgiIg9HfxpNSXo_2aepY8tsxHmWJuEqqgmY... The admin pasted a Google Workspace support article URL (`https://apps.google.com/supportwidget/articlehome?...`) instead of the required Google site verification token. They found the help article explaining what to do — then pasted the URL to the help article into DNS instead of following the instructions.
https://apps.google.com/supportwidget/articlehome?hl=en&article_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.google.com%2Fa%2Fanswer%2F183895...