VercatusBack button hijacking
Google's spam policies list back button hijacking under malicious practices: a site interferes with browser navigation by manipulating history or other functionality so users cannot use the back button to return immediately to the page they came from. Announced on 13 April 2026 with enforcement from 15 June 2026, it can lead to manual spam actions or automated demotions; Google notes it may originate from a site's included libraries or advertising platform, and expects site owners to remove or disable that code.
Sources
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- 2Google Search Central Blog · 2026Introducing a new spam policy for "back button hijacking"developers.google.com
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