Google is broadening its spam policies to crack down on “back button hijacking,” a deceptive practice where websites interfere with browser navigation, blocking users from returning to the page they ...

Have you ever been trapped by a web page, unable to use the back button to get back to the site you were previously browsing, powerless to do anything but sigh and sacrifice the whole browser tab?

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 ...

Have you ever tried to click “back” on a website, but instead of returning to the previous page you ended up on a wall of ads? This can happen when websites or advertising networks use JavaScript to ...

Websites that act like a super-chatty colleague who just won't shut up and let you go when a conversation should be over are among the most annoying things on the internet. Google is now doing ...

On June 15, Google will implement a new spam policy that will allow it to punish sites that interfere with your browser's back button. So-called “back button hijacking" is any behavior that interferes ...

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, ...

Google is putting its foot down on "back button hijacking," an infamous deceptive practice where users are kept on a long loop of pressing the back button but are either not brought anywhere or ...

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, ...

It's been a while since Google has come out with a new search spam policy and penalty to accompany it with and now we have a new one, "back button hijacking." Back button hijacking is something many ...