Quote Originally Posted by gaystoryman
I have used that htaccess for a bit, but something has come up which makes me ask this question, not sure if anyone has an answer though.

In adding a google sitemap, you need to have it verified by google in the api section.. and when using that htaccess redirect google comes back with unable to verify due to an error in 404 claiming its receiving a 200 code when it shouldn't... so I am wondering this..

1. Could google be penalizing sites with the htaccess redirect?
2. What 404 header info is required to perhaps use a custome 404 redirect that would pass this verify feature of the google xml sitemap?
htaccess redirects to a custom 404 error page is pretty much a recommended standard. Also google has a custom 404 error page, (very simple one). So I can't see them penalizing sites for doing that.

If it was to redirect to another domain though that might be different.