Google is taking on annoying websites that hijack your browser’s back button

Chances are, we’ve all encountered a website that simply refuses to let you leave using the back button in your browser. It’s called back button hijacking, and it’s one of the most annoying things on the internet.

Now, Google is hoping to help curb the practice by punishing websites that do it in Google Search results.

The company announced the change in a blog post spotted by Ars Technica, stating that back button hijacking will now be included in its list of malicious practices that trigger its spam policies. As Google says, most people expect the back button to do one thing when they click it: go back to the previous page. Websites that circumvent this behavior by inserting alternate pages in your browsing history to direct your back button clicks elsewhere will now be subject to the spam policy. This could result in those sites being significantly downranked in search results from manual or automated actions on Google’s end.

“We believe that the user experience comes first,” Google said in its blog post. “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.”

Google says it has seen a rise in this behavior across the web, which is why it’s explicitly designating it as a violation of its malicious practices policy now. Website owners have until June 15 to bring their sites into compliance with Google’s policies. After that, they’ll be subject to manual or automated actions.