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 ...

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?

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, ...

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 dropping the back button trigger for AdSense vignette ads on June 15, 2026 due to the new Google search penalty for back button hijacking. Google wrote, “Starting June 15, 2026, the browser ...

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 ...