What you need to know
- Google is cracking down on “back button hijacking,” a trick that traps users on dubious websites.
- Google now labels this behavior as malicious and treats it as a serious violation.
- Starting June 15, offending sites are at risk of manual penalties or major drops in search rankings.
Google is cracking down on a shady web hack that’s been ruining your browsing experience. And if you’ve ever felt stuck using the back button, this is probably why.
Google is making changes to Search Spam Policies to stop “back button hijacking,” a trick some websites use to keep you stuck on their pages. In a recent blog postGoogle explained that some sites change your browser history so that pressing the back button takes you to an unexpected place.
You may have encountered this before: You click on a Google link, realize the page is unhelpful, and hit the back button, but you can’t exit. Sometimes you are sent to an incomplete ad or have to press “back” over and over again to exit. Google is finally treating it as a serious problem.
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Starting June 15, any site found “hijacking” your browsing will face serious consequences, such as a manual spam action or a huge drop in search rankings.
Google has noticed that more sites are using scripts to change your browser history. These sites use JavaScript to add fake entries to your history or replace the current one. When you press Back, it appears that you are moving through different pages, but in reality you are being sent to the same site or to unwanted “recommendations.”
The malicious status is official.
Google now officially calls this a “malicious practice” because it tricks you into making the site do something different than what you expect.
For most users, this is a big improvement. You will have a smoother and more reliable browsing experience where the “back” button works as it should.
If you run a website or handle SEO, you have two months to fix any problems. Google made it clear that even if you didn’t mean to use these tricks, you’re still responsible.
These hijacking scripts are often hidden in third-party advertisements or code libraries that site owners inadvertently add. Be sure to check your site’s code before the mid-June deadline, or you could lose traffic very quickly.
This policy starts June 15, so honeypot sites won’t disappear immediately. But once you start, Google’s automated systems and reviewers will begin removing these sites from search results.
Android Central’s opinion
Frankly, I think it’s about time Google put an end to this garbage. Few things are more frustrating than being stuck on a website that keeps publishing “related content” instead of letting you out. We’ve tolerated these tricks for years, but it’s really just a desperate attempt to get more ad views at the cost of our patience.
