Google will begin punishing sites for back button hijacking in June

Google is expanding its spam policies to address "back button hijacking," making it an explicit violation of its "malicious practices" policy. The practice occurs when a site interferes with browser navigation and prevents users from using the back button to return to the previous page, instead redirecting them to pages they never visited or presenting unsolicited ads. Pages engaging in back button hijacking may be subject to manual spam actions or automated demotions in Google Search results, with enforcement beginning June 15, 2026.

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• Google designates 'back button hijacking' as malicious, saying sites interfering with a browser's back button function may be demoted in Search starting in June (Abner Li/9to5Google)

Source: Ars Technica | 2026-04-14