Google has introduced a new rule to combat 'back button hijacking,' a practice where websites interfere with users' navigation, complicating their ability to return to previous pages.

All too often, clicking the back button in your browser doesn’t actually take you back. It’s called back button hijacking, and Google has thus far tolerated it. That ends in June, when the company ...

In short: Google is classifying “back button hijacking” as spam, targeting sites that abuse the browser History API to trap users when they try to navigate away. Enforcement begins 15 June 2026, with ...

Google is expanding its spam enforcement policies to crack down on a deceptive web practice known as back button hijacking. The update focuses on websites that interfere with a user’s attempt to ...

Google announced a new spam policy targeting sites that interfere with browser back button navigation. Back button hijacking is now an explicit violation under Google's malicious practices spam policy ...

Jake Peterson is Lifehacker’s Tech Editor, and has been covering tech news and how-tos for nearly a decade. His team covers all things technology, including AI, smartphones, computers, game consoles, ...

You click a search result, skim the page, and tap the back button to return to Google. Nothing happens. You tap again. The page reloads, or you land on a different ad. You are stuck, and the site did ...

Google has made some controversial decisions related to its flagship search engine in recent years, but this one will probably be pretty popular. The company announced in a developer note (via ...

Something to look forward to: Google has announced that it will begin penalizing websites that interfere with the normal functioning of a web browser's back button. Known as back button hijacking, ...

PCWorld reports that Google will penalize websites that hijack the browser’s back button, a manipulative practice that redirects users to unwanted pages or ads. This new spam policy violation, ...

Websites that engage in “back button hijacking” might soon appear less prominently in Google Search results as part of a new spam policy. Back button hijacking occurs when a site prevents users from ...

Google has issued a new warning to sites using back button hijacking techniques, saying those sites have two months to remove or disable those techniques. If they do not, they will be subject to both ...