If you have ever pressed the back button on a website and still couldn’t leave, you have likely experienced what Google calls ‘back button hijacking.’ This is a trick used by some sites to block or interfere with your browser’s back button, making it difficult to exit or pushing you to unwanted pages.
Now, Google is taking action against this practice. The company has announced a new rule to stop websites from using back button hijacking. From Mid-June, the US-based search giant will treat this trick as a spam violation.
Websites using such tricks will face penalties, including lower rankings in search results or manual action after June 15, 2026.. The Alphabet-owned company says this move is to improve user experience and stop bad practices.
“Today, we are expanding our spam policies to address a deceptive practice known as back button hijacking, which will become an explicit violation of the malicious practices of spam policies, leading to potential spam actions,” Google said in a blog post.
What Is Back Button Hijacking
As per Google, when a user clicks the ‘back’ button in the browser, they have a clear expectation == they want to return to the previous page. Back button hijacking breaks this fundamental expectation. It occurs when a site interferes with a user’s browser navigation and prevents them from using their back button to immediately get back to the page they came from.
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Instead, users might be sent to pages they never visited before, be presented with unsolicited recommendations or ads, or are otherwise just prevented from normally browsing the web.
Why Google Is Banning It
“We believe that the user experience comes first. Back button hijacking interferes with the browser’s functionality, breaks the expected user journey, and results in user frustration. People report feeling manipulated and eventually less willing to visit unfamiliar sites. As we’ve stated before, inserting deceptive or manipulative pages into a user’s browser history has always been against our Google Search Essentials.,” the company said.
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Google says it has seen a rise in such behaviour which is why it is now being treated as a clear violation under its ‘malicious practices’ policy. According to the search giant, malicious practices create a mismatch between user expectations and the actual outcome, leading to a negative and deceptive user experience, or compromised user security or privacy.
Pages that are engaging in back button hijacking may be subject to manual spam actions or automated demotions which can impact the site’s performance in Google Search results.
“To give site owners time to make any needed changes, we’re publishing this policy two months in advance of enforcement on June 15, 2026,” Google said.
What Should Site Owners Do?
Google says website owners should make sure they are not interfering with a user’s ability to use the browser’s back button or navigate their browsing history normally. In simple terms, sites should avoid using any tricks, scripts,or ads that stop users from going back to the previous page.
“If you’re currently using any script or technique that inserts or replaces deceptive or manipulative pages into a user’s browser history that prevents them from using their back button to immediately get back to the page they came from, you are expected to remove or disable it,” the company noted.
