New Google Spam Policy Targets Back Button Hijacking

Google added a new section to its spam policies designating “back button hijacking” as an explicit violation under the malicious practices category. Enforcement begins on June 15, giving websites two months to make changes.

Google published a blog post explaining the policy. It also updated the spam policies documentation to list back-button hijacking alongside malware and unwanted software as a malicious practice.

What Is Back Button Hijacking

Back button hijacking occurs when a site interferes with browser navigation and prevents users from returning to the previous page. Google’s blog post describes several ways this can happen.

Users might be sent to pages they never visited. They might see unsolicited recommendations or ads. Or they might be unable to navigate back at all.

Google wrote in the blog post:

“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…