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.

The back button on your browser is supposed to be an exit ramp, but some sites are abusing a tactic to trap users on their domains and manipulate traffic, according to Google. The tactic is called ...

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, ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

An update to Google’s spam policies includes a new “malicious practice” that could get websites demoted: “Back button hijacking,” which is when a website stops users from leaving with their browser’s ...

Just a heads up, that a small setting within Google AdSense under the vignette ads may trigger your site to get a Google ...

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, ...